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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
FRANK  J.  KLINGBERG 


SINFUL NESS 


AMERICAN  SLAVERY: 


PROVED  FROM 

ITS  EVIL  SOURCES;  ITS  INJUSTICE;  ITS  WRONGS;  ITS  CONTRARIETY 

TO  MANY  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS,  PROHIBITIONS,  AND 

PRINCIPLES,  AND  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  SPIRIT; 

AND- FROM  ITS  EVIL  EFFECTS; 

TOGETHER  WITH  OBSERVATIONS  ON  EMANCIPATION,  AND  THE 

DUTIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIZENS  IN  REGARD 

TO  SLAVERY. 

BY 

REV.  CHARLES  ELLIOTT,  D.  D. 

EDITED   BY 

REV.  B.  F.  TEFFT,  D.  D. 

"  Thon  shall  not  steal."— EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 

"He  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand,  he  shall 
inrely  be  put  to  death."— EXODUS  xxi,  16. 

"  The  law  is  made  .  .  for  men-stealers." — 1  TIMOTHY  I,  9, 10. 

"  Hominum  fares,  qni  vel  servos  vel  liberos  abducnnt,  retinent,  vendnnt,  vel  emunt." 
[Those  are  men-stealers  who  abduct,  keep,  fell,  or  buy  slaves  or  freemen.] — POOL'S 
SYNOPSIS  ON  1  TIMOTHY  i,  9,  10. 

"Every  American  who  loves  his  country,  should  dedicate  his  whole  life,  and 
every  faculty  of  his  soul,  to  efface  the  foul  stain  [of  slavery]  from  its  character." — 
EDINBURO  RKVIKW,  No.  LXI,  p.  146. 

IN    TWO   VOLUMES. 
VOLUME  I. 


(Cincinnati : 

PUBLISHED  BY  L.  SWORMSTEDT  &  J.  H.  POWER, 

FOR  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  AT  THE  -WESTERN  BOOK  CONCERN, 
CORNER  OF  MAIN  AND  EIGHTH  STREETS. 

R.   P.  THOMPSON,   PRINTER. 
1850. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1850, 

BY  SWORMSTEDT  &  POWER, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  for  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Ohio. 


.8  Sf  M-  TJ  3  «  V 


:sli. 


»/> 


PREFACE. 


THE  General  conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  1848,  appointed  the  author  of  these  volumes  to 
write  the  history  of  the  Church  for  the  four  previous  years, 
which  involved,  as  a  leading  topic,  a  survey  of  the  subject 
of  slavery.  This  led  him  to  as  accurate  and  extensive  an 
examination  of  slavery,  in  all  its  relations,  as  his  capacity 
and  means  of  information  would  allow.  He  had  been,  for 
the  fifteen  years  previous  to  the  last,  engaged  in  conducting 
the  periodical  press,  so  that  ample  means  of  information 
were  within  his  reach  from  this  source.  All  the  books  pub- 
lished on  slavery  in  this  country,  for  the  most  part,  form 
part  of  his  library.  The  greater  part,  too,  of  what  ap- 
peared in  Britain,  on  the  slave-trade,  and  emancipation, 
through  the  gift  of  Dr.  Dixon,  are  in  his  possession.  An 
inspection  of  the  list  of  books  and  pamphlets,  at  the  end 
of  the  second  volume,  will  show,  that  all  the  important 
sources  of  information  have  been  consulted. 

Before  commencing,  in  form,  the  contemplated  history,  a 
careful  study  of  the  whole  subject  of  slavery  was  necessary. 
This  led  to  the  preparation  of  the  following  volume,  on  the 
sinfulness  of  slavery,  which  is  proved  from  its  evil  origin, 
its  injustice,  its  wrongs,  its  conflict  with  Christian  principles 
and  the  Christian  spirit,  and  from  its  evil  effects  on  all  con- 
cerned in  it.  The  material  for  the  preparation  of  another 
volume,  on  Servitude  and  Slavery,  is  now  collected.  These 
volumes  are  intended  to  show  that  the  Scripture  neither  sanc- 
tions nor  tolerates  slavery  proper;  that  the  regulations  of 
the  Mosaic  code  referred  to  servitude,  so  as  to  prevent  it 
*rom  running  into  slavery.  An  account  of  Roman  slavery, 

1567052      3 


4  PREFACE. 

drawn  particularly  from  the  civil  law,  is  reserved  for  this 
connection,  as  it  stands  related  to  slavery  as  treated  in  the 
New  Testament.  The  preparation  of  this  volume  is  now 
postponed,  till  the  history  of  the  four  years  shall  have 
been  completed,  if  God  spare  life  and  health  even  for  this. 

The  history  will  consider,  as  a  matter  of  course,  slavery 
in  its  ecclesiastical  relations,  as  a  subject  of  discipline  in  the 
Christian  Church.  Our  plan,  then,  embraces  the  general 
subject  of  slavery  in  the  present  volumes;  servitude  and 
slavery  as  portrayed  and  treated  in  holy  Scripture;  and 
slavery  in  its  ecclesiastical  relations. 

The  writer  of  these  volumes  is  bound  by  no  undue  obli- 
gations, nor  is  he  trammeled  with  any  impediments,  either 
ecclesiastical,  political,  or  social.  The  truth  and  the  right, 
and  they  only,  have  magisterial  control  over  him  in  this 
matter.  He  owes  no  submission  to  any  man,  or  set  of  men 
in  this  world,  other  than  what  the  pure  truth  of  God  re- 
quires and  the  Scriptural  principles  of  right  demand.  He 
is  bound  by  no  dictation,  jurare  in  verba  magistri,  to  submit 
to  any  master,  other  than  God  and  his  holy  word.  He  has 
no  place  to  seek  in  Church,  state,  or  society,  to  trammel 
him  in  any  thing.  As  a  free  man,  therefore,  he  unfalter- 
ingly speaks  out,  fearing  Him  only  who  is  the  author  of  all 
good,  the  source  of  truth,  and  the  giver  of  liberty  to  man, 
as  one  of  his  noblest  gifts  to  the  human  family.  Without 
further  explanation,  he  therefore  submits  the  following 
volumes  to  the  consideration  of  a  free  people,  confidently 
believing  that  they  will  receive  them  with  the  cordiality  of 
independent  and  free  men. 

CHARLES  ELLIOTT. 

Xenia,  Ohio,  Jan.  1,  1850. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

AMERICAN  SLAVERY  AND  THE  AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE. 
-  CHAPTER   I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Slavery  defined — Roman  laws — Quotation  from  Stroud — South 
Carolina  on  Slavery— Legal  view  of  the  question — Sketch  of  the 
laws  relating  to  slavery — Judicial  decisions  upholding  slavery — 
Decision  of  Judge  Crenshaw — Correspondence  between  the  prac- 
tices and  workings  of  the  system  and  the  statutes  and  legal  decis- 
ions on  the  same — No  people  better  than  their  laws — Declaration 
of  Scripture — Difference  between  the  system  of  slavery  and  some 
who  are  slaveholders  by  law — Two  classes  of  slaveholders — Great 
dissimilarity — Christians  generally  opposed  to  slavery — Some  who 
think  the  system  right — Resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church — Declaration  of  Rev.  James  Smylie — 
Baptist  pleaders  of  slavery — Dr.  Fuller — Charleston  and  Edgefield 
associations — Methodist  slave-pleaders — Dr.  Longstreet — Professor 
Simms — Statesmen  and  politicians  in  favor  of  slavery — Governor 
M'Duffie — Mr.  Calhoun— Mr.  Hammond— W.  B.  Seabrook— Civil 
and  political  features  of  the  system— Dr.  Wayland  and  Dr.  Fuller- 
Slavery  tested  by  the  Scripture  standard — Who  are  slaves  ? — Defi- 
nitions and  distinctions — Change  of  times  and  opinions...  .Page  15 

CHAPTER  II. 

MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE  AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY. 

A  brief  survey  of  the  origin  of  the  slave-trade — How  are  slaves 
procured  in  Africa  ? — Force,  fraud,  and  theft — The  "  middle  pas- 
sage " — Its  horrors — Slave  markets — The  home  traffic  portrayed — 
American  slavery  constantly  reducing  persons  to  slavery — In- 
stances—Free negroes — Piracy— Slave-raising— Opinion  of  Judge 
Upshur,  Mr.  Mercer,  Mr.  Clay,  and  Mr.  Gholson— Hon.  John  Ran- 
dolph—Professor Dew— Quotations  from  various  newspapers— The 
trade  between  the  states — Advertisements — Address  of  Mr.  Gid- 
dings— Scene  in  Uniontown,  Pa.— J.  K.  Paulding,  Esq. — Feather- 
1*  5 


stonaugh  on  America — Rev.  J.  O'Kelly  on  negro  slavery — Specifi- 
cation of  the  atrocities  connected  with  American  slavery — The  hor- 
rors of  the  two  systems  alike— Shakspeare  quoted— William  Pinck- 
ney— Thomas  Erskine— Slavery  the  parent  of  the  slave-trade- 
Africa  before  the  existence  of  the  slave-trade — The  destruction  of 
slavery  certain Page  39 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

No  one  ever  born  a  slave — Liberty  the  natural  and  inalienable 
right  of  every  human  being — Violation  of  the  law  of  nature — All 
men  owners  of  themselves — Heathenism — The  enslavement  of 
children  forbidden  in  the  law  of  Moses — Contrary  to  the  spirit  of 
the  New  Testament— Colored  children  as  justly  entitled  to  freedom 
as  the  white — Continuance  in  theft — The  darkest  page  of  human 
criminality — The  enslaving  of  children  a  mere  substitute  for  the 
African  slave-trade — No  one  entitled  to  the  services  of  another  for 
life — Right  of  freedom  belongs  to  all — Man  not  a  chattel — Opinions 
of  statesmen — Rights  of  the  master  considered — Stolen  property — 
Kidnappers — Every  case  in  which  a  child  is  made  a  slave  is  a 
new  case  of  enslavement,  as  original  as  that  which  occurs  in  the 
case  of  an  African  stolen  from  Africa — The  Rev..  John  Wesley 
quoted 83 


PART  II. 

DEPRIVATION  OF  NATURAL  RIGHTS. 
CHAPTER    I. 

DEPRIVATION    OF    RIGHTS NATURAL    RIGHTS— PERSONAL    LIBERTY 

SONAL  SECURITY RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY. 

Wrongs — Two  kinds — Rights  absolute  and  rights  relative- 
Opinion  of  Blackstone — Civil  and  conventional  rights  —  Terms 
denned  and  principles  resulting — Divine  rights — Commentaries  on 
the  laws  of  England — Natural  rights  trampled  on  by  slavery — 
Personal  liberty — Objections  to  making  man,  an  article  of  prop- 
erty— The  idea  of  holding  man  as  property  is  contrary  to  the  right 
idea  of  property— The  inalienable  rights  of  man  by  slavery  be- 
come the  sole  property  of  another — If  one  man  be  sold  as  property, 
so  can  all  men — Making  men  property  leads  to  treating  them  as 
property — Hebrew  servants  were  not  property — Brougham's  speech 
before  the  British  Parliament — Buxton  quoted — Dr.  Rice — Slavery 
and  the  right  of  holding  property — Laws  of  the  slave  states  in 
regard  to  the  time  to  be  employed  in  labor — Inhuman  regulations — 
Downright  robbery — Slavery  at  war  with  personal  security  . .  .104 


CHAPTER  II. 

DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS — EDUCATIO1C. 

Education  withheld  from  the  slave — No  legal  provision  for  per- 
sons of  color — Laws  of  South  Carolina — Statements  of  slavehold- 
ers— Synod  of  Kentucky — The  interests  of  the  master  against  the 
mental  culture  of  his  slaves — Violation  of  Scriptural  precepts  and 
commands — Disastrous  effects  of  ignorance — Channing  quoted — 
Chancellor  Harper — Rev.  James  Smylie — His  views  in  reference  to 
educating  the  slave  population — Fuller  and  "Wayland — Protection 
of  the  master  secured  by  the  ignorance  of  the  slaves — The  laboring 
classes  of  free  states — Laboring  classes  of  Europe — A  heavy  mill- 
stone—  Oral  religious  instruction  a  failure  —  Such  instruction 
too  limited,  too  superficial,  and  too  circumscribed  in  every  par- 
ticular  Page  121 

CHAPTER  III. 

DEPRIVATION  OF  EIGHTS — DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES. 

The  duties  inculcated  by  Christianity — Quotations  from  the  Bi- 
ble— Rights  of  conscience — The  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the 
United  States — Denial  of  all  religious  privileges  to  the  slave — A 
law  of  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  Mississippi — Slavery 
versus  religious  instruction  and  the  privileges  of  the  Gospel — 
Slaves  denied  access  to  God's  word,  not  provided  with  a  regular 
ministry,  and  the  social  means  of  grace  but  limitedly  used  by 
them — Argument  of  Dr.  Fuller — Three  ways  in  which  the  rights 
of  conscience  are  violated — A  most  heinous  sin — Testimony  of  the 
synod  of  Kentucky — One  of  the  worst  features  of  the  slave  sys- 
tem— Slavery  against  the  spread  of  true  religion — Remarks  of  a 
runaway  slave— Startling  statements 134 

CHAPTER   IV. 

DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS— MARRIAGE. 

No  such  thing  as  marriage,  properly  so  called,  among  slaves — 
Opinion  of  Mr.  Dulaney,  Attorney-General  of  Maryland — Annihi- 
lation of  the  right  of  marriage — The  Scriptures  made  void — Mr. 
Rice  to  Mr.  Blanchard — Singular  evasion— Slavery  leads  to  licen- 
tiousness among  the  slaves  and  among  the  masters — General  con- 
cubinage— Consequences  of  the  abrogation  of  marriage — Masters' 
children  frequently  slaves — The  quadroons  of  New  Orleans — Sale 
of  one's  own  offspring — British  custom — Slave-growing — Dr.  W. 
E.  Channing's  views — Miss  Martineau  on  slavery  and  emancipa- 
tion—  Monstrous  illegal  amalgamation  —  Shameless  hypocrisy  — 

Degradation  of  woman — Public  advertisements — Bible  opposition 

Opinions  of  some  slaveholders  against  such  abominations — Incest 
common — Redemption  from  slavery 146 


CHAPTER   V. 

DKPEIVATION    OF    EIGHTS— CIVIL     DISABILITIES    OF     SLAVERY,    INVOLVING 
INJURIES. 

Civil  disabilities  of  slavery,  involving  great  injustice — A  slave 
can  not  be  a  witness  against  a  white  person — Wheeler  and  Stroud 
quoted — The  law  excluding  the  testimony  of  slaves  extends  to  all 
colored  persons — Injurious  effects  of  this  disability — Most  of  the 
protecting  laws  a  mere  nullity — Chief  Justice  Atley — Sir  William 
Young,  Governor  of  Tobago,  and  others — Decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Louisiana — The  remedy  proposed  by  southern  laws  of  no 
account — South  Carolina  enactment — Why  are  colored  persons 
refused  the  privilege  of  testifying  in  court? — The  question  con- 
sidered— Unparalleled  intolerance — Peculiar  viciousness — A  slave 
can  not  be  a  party  to  a  civil  suit — Six  considerations  named — 
Speech  of  a  slave  on  trial — Unlimited  submission  required  of  the 
slave  —  Law  of  Georgia,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  and 
South  Carolina — Injury  of  a  slave — Slaves  can  make  no  con- 
tracts— Can  not  redeem  themselves — Laws  against  emancipation 
examined Page  159 


PART  III. 

INJURIES  INFLICTED  BY  AMERICAN  SLAVERY. 
CHAPTER  I. 

EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

Primary  object  of  law — Quotations  from  Scripture — Cruel  enact- 
ments against  the  slave — Specimens  from  the  laws  of  various  slave 
states — Whipping  and  death — The  chief  kinds  of  punishment — 
Prosecution  of  slaves— Strange  measure— Trial  by  jury— The  slave 
always  kept  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  laws,  and  when,  through 
ignorance,  he  breaks  one,  condign  punishment  results — Child's 
Oration — Unlimited  power  of  the  master  in  punishing  a  slave — Law 
of  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Georgia — Moderate  correction  — 
South  Carolina  regulation — Constitution  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
and  Missouri — Quotatioti  fnmi  Stroud — The  master  and  his  deputy 
possessed  of  boundless  power — The  heart  of  slavery  revealed — The 
opinion  of  Whitemarsh  B.  Seabrook,  of  South  Carolina — Five 
methods  of  punishment  proposed — Corporeal  punishment — Solitary 
confinement — Deprivation  of  privileges — Additional  labor — Trans- 
portation   183 


CONTENTS.  fl 

CHAPTER  II. 

PRIVATIONS  OF  SLATES  IN  REFERENCE  TO  LABOR,  FOOD,  CLOTHING,  DWELL- 
INGS, AND  HEALTH. 

The  time  of  labor  determined  by  the  master — The  law  of  Geor- 
gia of  1817— Law  of  South  Carolina  of  1740— Mississippi— The 
time  of  labor  in  South  Carolina  is  enormous — Bite  and  work — The 
argument  from  self-interest — Consequences  of  overworking — Retri- 
bution of  Heaven — The  food  of  slaves,  as  to  quantity  and  quality, 
determined  solely  by  the  master — What  is  meant  by  sufficient  food — 
Corn  the  usual  food  of  slaves — Meat  withheld — Rations  of  the 
United  States'  soldiers  and  state  prisoners — Testimony  of  Rev. 
Thomas  S.  Clay,  of  Georgia — Clothing  of  slaves  not  adequate  to 
comfort  or  decency — Provisions  of  different  states  on  the  subject — 
Why  the  slave  is  poorly  clothed— The  dwellings  of  slaves — Quo- 
tations on  the  subject — Provision  for  sick  and  aged  slaves — Act  of 
Georgia  for  December  12,  1815 — Sarah  M.  Grimke — George  A. 
Avery — The  privations  of  slaves  continued — Dr.  Channing — Moral 
character  of  the  system Page  200 

CHAPTER   III. 

CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  punishments  of  slaves  amount  to  the  greatest  inhumanity- 
Several  specifications  made — Penalties — Property  of  the  master 
more  sacred  than  the  person  of  the  slave — Two  laws  of  Louisiana 
cited — Indifference  to  the  torments  of  slaves — Brenard's  Digest 
quoted — Decision  of  Judge  Matthews,  of  Louisiana — Another  de- 
cision— Shooting  slaves — Uniform  cruelty  of  American  slavery — 
Mr.  Whitfield  quoted — Woolman  —  Pinckney  —  O'Kelly  —  Rice — 
President  Edwards,  the  younger — Major  Stoddard — Testimony  of 
the  Gradual  Emancipation  Society  of  North  Carolina — Rev.  J. 
Rankin — Judge  Ruffin — Mr.  Moore,  of  Virginia — Swaim,  of  North 
Carolina— J.  C.  Finley  to  Mr.  Mahan— Mr.  Thome's  speech,  New 
York,  1834— Synod  of  Kentucky — Specimens  of  whipping— G.  W. 
Westgate  quoted — Horace  Moulton — S.  M.  Grimke — Tortures  of 
slaves — Branding,  crippling,  and  cutting — The  overseer  and  the 
driver — Description  of  a  slave-dealer,  by  Hon.  J.  K.  Paulding — In- 
humanity proved — Advertisements — Moral  evils  and  actual  sins 
flowing  from  slavery — Objections  noticed — Denial  of  these  cruel- 
ties— Dr.  Fuller — Feeble  logic — A  serious  omission — Contempt  of 
marriage  and  all  marriage  relations — Evasion  by  all  champions  of 
slavery  of  the  real  point  at  issue — A  slavery  guided  by  justice  or 
love  is  no  slavery  at  all — Confession  of  Dr.  Fuller  to  Dr.  Way- 
land — Dr.  Fuller  practically  an  insurrectionist  and  an  abolitionist- 
Gratifying  consideration — Some  improvement  hoped  for 218 


PART  IV. 

CONTRARIETY  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 
CHAPTER   I. 

SLAVERY  CONTRARY  TO  MANY  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

Despotism  of  slavery  considered — Quotations — Confession  of 
Dr.  Fuller — Declaration  of  Thomas  Jefferson — E.  C.  Holland — W. 
B.  Seabrook — What  is  a  despot  ? — Declaration  of  Independence — 
Governor  M'Duffie — The  civil  law — Its  application — A  sad  pic- 
ture— Two  slaveholders  quoted — The  Bible  views  slavery  as  op- 
pression— Treatment  of  the  Hebrews — Scripture  precepts — Depri- 
vation of  just  and  righteous  wages — The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his 
hire — Condemnation  of  the  capture  of  fugitive  slaves — Hebrew 
servitude — Slaves — Laws  in  regard  to  fugitive  slaves  opposed  to 
the  Bible — Argument — Outrageous  enormities — No  liberty  for  the 
slave  in  the  United  States — Sad  narrative — Constitution  of  the 
United  States— Act  of  Congress,  passed  February  12, 1793— Penn- 
sylvania the  forum  of  most  of  the  decisions  respecting  fugitive 
slaves — Laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  slave  states,  in  re- 
gard to  the  capture  of  fugitive  slaves,  directly  opposed  to  the  Mo- 
saic code — A  Hebrew  servant,  when  maltreated,  could  claim  free- 
dom— Not  so  with  American  slaves — Stealers  of  men  in  old  times 
punished  with  death — Enormities  practiced  in  regard  to  the  cap- 
ture of  fugitive  slaves — Practical  workings  of  the  system — Out- 
line of  treating  runaways — Caution  against  running  away — Pur- 
suit of  runaways — Blood-hounds — Deadly  weapons — Professional 
men-hunters  —  Advertisements  —  Chaining  and  torturing  fugitive 
slaves Page  251 

CHAPTER  II. 

SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

Contrary  to  justice  or  righteousness — Proof — Contrary  to  the 
great  law  of  love — The  Bible  cited — General  statements — Keeping 
slaves  for  their  good — The  "golden  rule"  opposed  to  slavery — St. 
Augustine  on  Matthew  vii,  12 — Cornelius  a  Lapide — Dr.  Dod- 
dridge — No  one  under  the  influence  of  this  rule  ever  made  another 
a  slave,  nor  would  he  continue  the  practice  of  the  system  under  the 
guidance  of  the  "  golden  rule  " — The  brotherhood  of  the  human 
race — Evasion  of  the  law  of  this  brotherhood — A  question  pro- 
pounded and  answered  —  Captives — Jesus  Christ  and  Moses  — 
Teachings  of  the  prophets — Slavery  shows  no  mercy  to  the  poor — 
Quotations  from  Scripture  —  Obedience  of  children  —  Separation 
of  parents  and  children — Narrative  of  Mr.  Birney — A  Missouri 
negro-trader  —  Husbands  and  wives  —  Marriage  may  be  forbid- 
den—Two advertisements— Rev.  J.  H.  Dickey's  description  of  a 


CONTENTS.  1 1 

"drove" — Rev.  A.  Rankin  —  "Search  the  Scriptures"  —  Slavery 
does  not  allow  this — Duty  of  the  slave  to  aim  at  freedom — Decision 
of  Judge  Ruffiu Page  274 

CHAPTER  III. 

SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRIVILEGES. 

Contrary  to  the  original  grant  which  God  gave  to  man — God's 
charter  gives  uo  grant  of  property  in  man — Quotation  from  Gene- 
sis— The  declaration  of  the  Psalmist — Slavery  contradicts  the 
grant  made  by  God  in  two  ways:  first,  by  one  portion  of  the  human 
family  claiming  and  securing  another  portion  of  the  human 
family,  and,  secondly,  by-depriving  that  portion  of  the  common 
property  bestowed  on  the  whole  race  of  mankind — The  Saxon  lias 
no  right  of  property  in  the  Indian  or  African — God  the  only  lawful 
despot — Slavery  divides  and  scatters  families — Slaveholders  mo- 
nopolizers and  robbers — Property  the  right  of  all — Slavery  sinks 
the  divine  image  of  God,  in  which  man  was  created,  to  the  level  of 
brutality — Passages  from  various  parts  of  the  Scriptures — Indirect 
attacks  on  God — Fighting  against  him — All  mental  improvement 
in  slaves  denounced  by  pro-slavery  men — Christ  died  for  all — John 
iii,  16 — The  work  of  redemption  antagonistic  to  slavery — Declara- 
tion of  St.  Paul — The  same  sacrifice  made  for  the  slave  as  for  the 
master — Christian  brethren  in  bonds  and  chains — The  early  Chris- 
tians opposed  to  the  spirit  and  practice  of  slavery — Usurpation  of 
divine  rights — The  claims  of  slavery  equal  the  claims  of  Heaven — 
Slavery  contrary  to  the  natural  equality  of  mankind — Bible  declara- 
tions— Human  equality  recognized  by  the  Bible — The  ground  on 
which  Aristotle  defended  slavery — Slavery  contrary  to  the  chief 
end  of  man,  which  is  to  glorify  God  and  enjoy  him  forever. . .  .299 

CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

Eight  reasons  given  for  the  consideration  of  the  ten  command- 
ments— Slavery  a  breach  of  the  first  commandment — The  point 
discussed — Opposed  to  the  second  commandment — The  slave  can 
not  worship  God — Slavery  encourages  profanity — Proof — Violates 
the  Sabbath — Does  not  allow  the  obedience  of  children  to  pa- 
rents— Reciprocal  duties  of  parents  and  children  despised — The 
servant  and  the  slave  —  Encourages  murder — Stroud  quoted — 
O'Kelly  on  this  point — Rev.  John  Rankin,  of  Tennessee — Instances 
of  atrocious  murders  —  Burning  of  negroes  —  Several  examples 
cited — Slow  deaths  by  fire  common — Suicides — Lex  talionis  illus- 
trated— Murder  by  a  negro — Adultery  encouraged  by  slavery — Val- 
uable slaves — The  Edmoudson  sisters — Process  of  amalgamation — 


12  CONTENTS. 

Slavery  a  violation  of  the  eighth  commandment — "  Thou  shalt  not 
steal" — Westminster  catechism — Bishop  Hopkins — Exposition  of 
the  ten  commandments  —  Slaveholders,  according  to  St.  Paul, 
are  men-stealers  —  The  Greek  word  andrapodistes  analyzed  —  Dr. 
Bloomfield's  view — Analysis  of  the  crime  of  theft — What  consti- 
tutes theft? — Quotations  from  Exodus  xxi,  16,  Proverbs  xxix,  24, 
and  Psalm  1,  18 — Bishop  Hopkins  again — Men,  being  naturally 
free,  are  incapable  of  becoming  goods  or  chattels — Judge  Black- 
stone  quoted — Slaveholding  is  robbery  beyond  all  other  robbery — 
Real  slaveholders  swindlers — Blackstone's  Commentaries — Slavery 
is  theft — African  and  American  thieving — Hard  terms — Stolen 
property — Passage  from  the  life  of  William  Brown — Quotations 
from  Genesis  and  Deuteronomy — Stealers,  sellers,  purchasers,  and 
holders  of  slaves,  alike  guilty — Penalty  of  the  Mosaic  law — Larger 
catechism  of  the  Presbyterian  Church — The  Mosaic  law  on  man- 
stealing  recognized  and  resanctioned  in  the  New  Testament  by  St. 
Paul — Slavery  a  breach  of  the  eighth  commandment,  according  to 
all  good  interpreters — Westminster  Assembly — Punishments  of  the 
Lord — Report  on  the  Free  People  of  Color  of  Ohio — Horrible  case 
of  kidnapping — Contrary  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  commandments, 
and  against  all  just  laws,  human  and  divine Page  310 

CHAPTER  V. 

SLAVERY  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

The  right,  such  as  the  master  claims  over  the  slave,  not  ac- 
knowledged by  the  Bible — The  matter  demonstrated — Slavery  and 
the  light  diffused  by  Christianity  at  variance — Speech  of  Rev. 
Richard  Watson,  Exeter  Hall,  London — The  spirit  of  Christianity 
and  slaveholding — The  dispositions  and  feelings  enjoined  on  Chris- 
tians opposed  to  slavery — Christ's  kingdom — The  brotherhood  of 
Christianity — The  case  of  Demarara — Prayer  and  slavery  not  con- 
gruous— Quotation  from  "  Thoughts  on  Slavery,"  by  John  Wes- 
ley— Two  prayers  given — A  third — Stanza  of  poetry — Proceedings 
of  some  citizens  of  South  Carolina  against  Dr.  Brisbane — Slavery 
opposed  to  civilization  and  education — Remarks  of  Rev.  William 
Bevan  before  the  Antislavery  Convention  held  at  London,  June, 
1840  . .  . . .344 


PART  I. 

AMERICAN  SLAVERY  AND  THE  AFRICAN  SLAVE- 
TRADE  CONTRASTED. 


YS3V  Ail'S 


SINFUL  NESS 

OP 

AMERICAN    SLAVERY. 

CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

1 .  WE  will  commence  this  treatise  by  defining  the  system 
of  slavery: 

"A  slave  is  a  person  divested  of  the  ownership  of  him- 
self, and  conveyed,  with  all  his  powers  of  body  and  mind, 
to  the  proprietorship  of  another." 

"  Slaveholding  is  detaining  one  in  this  condition,  or  keep- 
ing him  subject  to  the  laws  of  slavery ;  and  the  detainer  is 
the  slaveholder." 

Or,  a  slaveholder  is  one  who  sustains  the  legal  relation  of 
master  or  owner  of  a  slave. 

There  are  but  two  slaveholding  powers  in  all  countries 
where  slavery  exists  by  law — the  master  and  the  government. 
A  slaveholding  government  is  one  which  authorizes  individ- 
uals to  deprive  their  fellow-men  of  self-ownership.  An  in- 
dividual slaveholder  is  one  who  subjects  men  to  the  laws  of 
slavery,  or  who  voluntarily  holds  slaves  by  law. 

2.  Slavery  reduces  men  to  articles  of  property;   makes 
chattels  out  of  free^ag5nts-f-€onveT^"personslnto  things. 

But  American  slavery  is  best  defined  by  quoting  the  laws 
which  authorize  and  protect  the  system.  In  the  civil  or  Ro- 
man laws,  slaves  were  held  "pro  nullis ;  pro  mortuis ;  pro 
quadrupedibus" — "as  nothing;  as  dead ;  as  quadrupeds." 

The  condition  of  slaves,  in  our  slaveholding  states,  is  little 
different  or  better,  as  far  as  laws  are  concerned,  than  under 

15 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

the  Roman  laws.  According  to  the  laws  of  Louisiana,  "a 
slave  is  one  who  is  in  the  power  of  a  master  to  whom  he 
belongs.  The  master  may  sell  him,  dispose  of  his  person, 
his  industry,  and  his  labor:  he  can  do  nothing,  possess 
nothing,  nor  acquire  any  thing  but  what  must  belong  to  his 
master." — Civil  code,  art.  35.  There  is,  indeed,  in  theory, 
a  limitation  to  the  master's  power  in  punishing  the  slave, 
yet  no  such  limitation  practically  exists,  or  can,  by  law,  be 
enforced.  "  The  slave  is  entirely  subject  to  the  will  of  his 
master,  who  may  correct  or  chastise%him,  though  not  with 
unusual  rigor,  or  so  as  to  maim  or  mutilate  him  to  the  dan- 
ger or  loss  of  life,  or  to  cause  death." — Art.  173.  (See 
Stroud,  p.  22.) 

The  cardinal  principle  of  slavery,  that  the  slave  is  not  to 
be  ranked  among  sentient  beings,  but  among  things — is  an 
article  of  property — a  chattel— obtains  as  undoubted  law  in 
all  other  slave  states.  In  South  Carolina  it  is  expressed  in 
the  following  language:  "Slaves  shall  be  deemed,  sold, 
taken,  reputed,  and  adjudged  in  law  to  be  chattels  personal 
in  the  hands  of  their  owners  and  possessors,  and  their 
executors,  administrators,  and  assigns,  to  all  intents,  con- 
structions, and  purposes  whatever."  (Stroud,  p.  23.)  Ab- 
solute despotism  could  ask  no  more  than  this. 

3.  We  will  here  set  down  what  may  be  called  the  legal 
definition  of  slavery.  We  quote  from  Mr.  Stroud's  excel- 
lent "  Sketch  of  the  laws  relating  to  slavery,"  Philadelphia, 
1837,  an  authority  which  can  not  be  called  in  question.  He 
treats  first  of  the  laws  which  regard  the  slave  as  property, 
and  concern  the  relation  of  master  and  slave.  Secondly, 
those  laws  which  consider  the  slave  as  a  member  of  civil 
society. 

First.  Those  laws  which  regard  the  slave  as  property  are 
comprised  under  the  following  twelve  propositions : 

"  1.  The  master  may  determine  the  kind,  and  degree,  and 
time  of  labor,  to  which  the  slave  may  be  subjected. 


INTRODUCTION.  l7 

"  2.  The  master  may  supply  the  slave  with  such  food  and 
clothing  only,  both  as  to  quantity  and  quality,  as  he  may 
think  proper  or  find  convenient. 

"  3.  The  master  may,  at  his  discretion,  inflict  any  punish- 
ment upon  the  person  of  his  slave. 

"4.  All  the  power  of  the  master  over  his  slave  may  be 
exercised,  not  by  himself  only  in  person,  but  by  any  one 
whom  he  may  depute  as  his  agent. 

"  5.  Slaves  have  no  legal  rights  of  property  in  things 
real  or  personal ;  but  "whatever  they  may  acquire  belongs, 
in  point  of  law,  to  their  masters. 

"  6.  The  slave,  being  a  personal  chattel,  is,  at  all  times, 
'liable  to  be  sold  absolutely,  or  mortgaged  or  leased,  at  the 
will  of  his  master. 

"  7.  He  may  also  be  sold  by  process  of  law  for  the  satis- 
faction of  the  debts  of  a  living,  or  the  debts  and  bequests 
of  a  deceased  master,  at  the  suit  of  creditors  or  legatees. 

"8.  A  slave  can  not  be  a  party  before  a  judicial  tribunal, 
in  any  species  of  action,  against  his  master,  no  matter  how 
atrocious  may  have  been  the  injury  received  from  him. 

"9.  Slaves  can  not  redeem  themselves,  nor  obtain  a 
change  of  masters,  though  cruel  treatment  may  have  ren- 
dered such  change  necessary  for  their  personal  safety. 

"  10.  Slaves  being  objects  of  property,  if  injured  by  third 
persons,  their  owners  may  bring  suit,  and  recover  damages, 
for  the  injury. 

"11.  Slaves  can  make  no  contract. 

"  12.  Slavery  is  hereditary  and  perpetual." 

The  laws  which  refer  to  the  slave  as  a  member  of  civil 
society,  Mr.  Stroud,  p.  65,  for  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  ranges 
under  the  following  propositions : 

"  1.  A  slave  can  not  be  a  witness  against  a  white  person, 
either  in  a  civil  or  criminal  cause. 

"  2.  He  can  not  be  a  party  to  a  civil  suit. 

"  3.  The  benefits  of  education  are  withheld  from  the  slave. 
2* 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

"  4.  The  means  for  moral  and  religious  instruction  are  not 
granted  to  the  slave ;  on  the  contrary,  the  efforts  of  the  hu- 
mane and  charitable  to  supply  these  wants  are  discounte- 
nanced by  law. 

"5.  Submission  is  required  of  the  slave,  not  to  the  will 
of  his  master  only,  but  to  that  of  all  other  white  persons. 

"  6.  The  penal  codes  of  the  slaveholding  states  bear  much 
more  severely  upon  slaves  than  upon  white  persons. 

"  7.  Slaves  are  prosecuted  and  tried  upon  criminal  accu- 
sations in  a  manner  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  hu- 
manity." 

The  sum  of  these  laws  will  comprehend  the  proper  de- 
scription or  definition  of  slavery,  much  more  clearly  and 
fully  than  any  definition,  in  abstract  terms,  can  furnish. 
The  legal  enactments,  by  which  alone  slavery  exists,  will  be 
the  authoritative  description  of  the  slave  system.  To  this 
we  will  continually  refer,  and  by  it  we  will  be  guided  in  the 
following  chapters. 

4.  The  judicial  decisions  upholding  slavery,  according  to 
the  statutes  of  slavery,  and  which  are  in  keeping  with  these 
statutes,  present  a  true  picture  of  the  system  of  slavery. 
The  reported  cases  of  judicial  proceedings  show  how  the 
law  is  practiced,  and  constitute  the  COMMON  .LAW  of  slavery. 
There  are  innumerable  cases  that  might  be  quoted ;  but  at 
this  stage  of  the  discussion  we  will  introduce  only  two. 

The  following  is  a  part  of  a  case  decided  by  Judge  Cren- 
shaw: — (1  Stewart's  Reports,  320.) 

"  A  slave  is  in  absolute  bondage ;  he  has  no  civil  rights, 
and  can  hold  no  property,  except  at  the  will  and  pleasure 
of  his  master.  A  slave  is  a  rational  being,  endowed  with 
understanding  like  the  rest  of  mankind;  and  whatever  he 
lawfully  acquires  and  gains  possession  of,  by  finding  or 
otherwise,  is  the  acquirement  and  possession  of  the  master. 
And  in  5  Cowen's  Reports,  397,  the  court  held  that  a  slave 
at  common  law  could  not  contract  matrimony,  nor  could  the 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

child  of  a  slave  take  by  descent  or  purchase."     (Wheeler's 
Law  of  Slavery,  p.  7.) 

In  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee,  in  1834,  the  follow- 
ing case  was  decided :  Frederick,  a  slave  of  Colonel  Patton, 
of  the  North  Carolina  line,  with  his  master's  consent, 
enlisted  and  fought  through  the  war  of  the  American  Rev- 
olution. On  the  8th  of  August,  1821,  as  Frederick's  name 
was  found  in  the  muster-roll,  a  warrant  was  issued  to  Fred- 
erick, giving  him  the  soldier's  bounty  of  one  thousand  acres 
of  land.  The  question  before  the  Court  was,  whether  the 
land  belonged  to  Frederick  or  to  his  master.  Judge 
Catron's  decision  is  in  these  words : 

"Frederick,  the  slave  of  Colonel  Patton,  earned  this 
warrant  by  his  services  in  the  continental  line.  What  is 
earned  by  the  slave  belongs  to  the  master,  by  the  common 
law,  the  civil  law,  and  the  recognized  rules  of  property  in 
the  slaveholding  states  of  the  Union. " 

Hence,  the  thousand  acres  of  land  were  awarded,  not  to 
Frederick,  but  to  the  heirs  of  Colonel  Patton. 

The  matter  is  plain,  that  the  legal  decisions  of  courts,  as 
well  as  the  laws,  make  slaves  things  who  can  acquire  or 
hold  no  property. 

5.  The  practices  and  workings  of  slavery,  in  its  range  of 
operations,  correspond  to  the  statutes  and  legal  decisions  of 
the  system,  so  as  to  show  the  sinfulness  of  slavery. 

In  representative  republics,  as  in  the  United  States,  the 
laws  may  be  safely  regarded  as  constituting  a  faithful  expo- 
sition of  the  sentiments  and  feelings  of  the  body  of  the 
i  people ;  for  laws  proceed  from  the  deliberate  acts  of  per- 
sons of  mature  age,  embodying  the  intelligence,  wisdom, 
justice,  and  humanity  of  the  community.  When  cruelty 
or  injustice  is  the  spirit  of  the  law  toward  a  proscribed 
class — when  it  legalizes  great  outrages  upon  them — it  neces- 
sarily will  connive  at  greater  outrages ;  hence,  though  the 
degree  of  the  outrage  is  illegal,  the  perpetrator  will  rarely  be 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

convicted,  and,  even  if  convicted,  will  almost  always  be  sure 
to  escape  punishment.  This  is  not  theory,  but  history.  The 
legal  conviction  and  punishment  of  masters  and  mistresses, 
for  illegal  outrages  on  their  slaves,  very  rarely  occurs ;  and 
though  hundreds  of  slaves  have  been  murdered  by  their 
masters  and  mistresses,  in  the  slave  states,  within  the  last 
thirty  years,  and  the  proofs  of  the  murders  unquestionable, 
yet  the  murderers,  in  all  or  most  cases,  have  escaped  the 
penalty  of  the  law. 

Indeed,  ^the^slavejaws^  are  a  disgjgc^jp^jmmanjiature, 
especially  when  considered  as  the  laws  of  a  people  glorying 
inTlreii  fieedOm7  honor,  and  magnanimity.  The  system  of 
slavery — a  system  of  implacable  and  unmitigated  cruelty — 
as  set  forth  in  the  laws  which  authorize  and  protect  it, 
belongs  to  the  lowest  stage  of  barbarism. 

It  is  an  established  maxim,  that  no  people  are  better  tlian 
tfieir  laws  are.  In  general  this  is  true;  yet  there  are 
exceptions  in  both  extremes.  Some  are  worse  than  their 
laws ;  others  are  better ;  but  the  body  of  the  people  must 
be  of  the  same  spirit  and  sentiment  with  their  laws,  except 
in  the  stages  of  transition  from  good  to  better,  or  from 
bad  to  worse. 

The  establishment  of  sl^vpjy  hy  Uw^J^p^^nf.jT^Vp  the 
system jigjitj_because  God's  law,  which  is  superior  to  all 
laws,  condemns  slavery  as  wrong ;  and  God's  laws  can  not 
be  repealed  by  the  laws  of  man.  Is  it  right  to  steal  human 
b«uagsJjyj=-HfrfartTTs--tlie--same — rob  them  of  their  liberty, 
convert  them  into  property,  treat  them  cruelly,  because 
human  laws  allow  or  authorize  this  outrage  ? .  The  history 
of  human  governments  is  a  mere  record  of  wrongs;  and 
the  progress  of  civilization  consists  principally  of  substitu- 
ting just  and  humane  for  barbarous  and  oppressive  laws. 
The  authority  of  government,  in  ordaining  slavery,  as  in 
ordaining  other  unjust  things,  is  a  reason  for  using  all  law- 
ful means  in  correcting  the  evil.  Besides,  wrong  done  by 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

law  or  by  society  is  amenable  to  the  same  retribution  as 
wrong  done  by  individuals. 

The  Scriptures  frequently  declare  this  truth.  Thus, 
Psalm  xciv,  20,  "Shall  the  throne  of  iniquity  have  fellow- 
ship with  thee,  which  frametk  mischief  by  a  law?"  So, 
also,  Isaiah  x,  1—4,  "Woe  unto  them  who  decree  unright- 
eous decrees,  and  that  write  grievousness  which  they  have 
prescribed;  to  turn  aside  the  needy  from  judgment,  and 
to  take  away  the  right  from  the  poor  of  my  people,  that 
widows  may  be  their  prey,  and  that  they  may  rob  the  fath- 
erless! And  what  will  ye  do  in  the  days  of  visitation, 
and  in  the  desolation  which  shall  come  from  far  ?  to  whom 
will  ye  flee  for  help?  and  where  will  ye  leave  your  glory? 
Without  me  they  shall  bow  down  under  the  prisoners,  and 
they  shall  fall  under  the  slain.  For  all  this  his  anger  is  not 
turned  away,  but  his  hand  is  stretched  out  still."  Persecu- 
tion for  the  sake  of  religious  opinion  is  always  perpetrated 
by  law ;  but  this  in  no  manner  affects  its  moral  character. 

6.  There  is  a  difference  between  the  system  of  slavery 
and  some  who  are  slaveholders  by  law. 

Some  may,  according  to  law,  become  slaveholders,  with- 
out their  knowledge,  consent,  or  act.  These  are  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  those  who  voluntarily  become  slaveholders 
for  gain  or  convenience.  The  one  is  guilty;  the  other  is 
innocent.  While  the  system  of  slavery,  as  it  exists  by  law, 
is  one  of  wrong,  and  necessarily  involves  sinfulness  in  con- 
nection with  the  system  and  inseparable  from  it,  these  two 
classes,  equally  slaveholders  by  law — the  only  way,  in  this 
country,  by  which  a  man  can  become  a  slaveholder — must 
be  carefully  distinguished. 

Some  may  become  the  legal  owners  of  slaves  by  will  or 
inheritance.  Others,  though  convinced  of  the  sinfulness 
of  the  system,  may  not  have  it  in  their  power  to  set  their 
slaves  free,  for  the  present,  and  they  hold  them  in  order  to 
do  them  the  greatest  good  possible.  Such,  certainly,  can 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

not  be  placed  in  the  list  of  transgressors  or  sinners ;  other- 
wise, one  person,  by  his  act,  can  make  another  a  sinner ;  or 
one  can  be  made  a  sinner  by  the  act  of  another ;  which  is 
absurd.  Such  employ  the  mere  legal  tenure  to  emancipate 
the  slave,  and  prevent  him  from  becoming  a  slave  for  life, 
and  his  posterity  after  him ;  or  he  employs  this  legal  tenure 
to  do  the  slave  all  the  good  he  can,  although  he  can  not  set 
him  free. 

There  are  others  who  love  slavery  and  the  laws  which 
authorize  and  protect  it.  They  daily  strive  to  render  that 
law  more  stringent.  They  use  their  power  over  the  slave 
for  their  own  benefit,  without  regard  to  the  rights  of  man 
or  the  law  of  God ;  and  they  resist  the  annulment  of  slave 
laws. 

Here  we  have  two  classes  of  slaveholders,  but  of  the 
most  dissimilar  character.  The  one  class  acknowledge  the 
•wrongs  and  sinfumess  of  slavery,  and  do  all  in  their  power 
to  do  them  away.  The  other  class  allow  no  law,  human 
or  divine,  to  interfere  with  the  exercise  of  their  tyrannical 
and  unjust  course.  Between  these  extremes,  however, 
there  are  many  gradations  of  guiltiness,  which,  perhaps, 
can  not  be  clearly  pointed  out,  till  the  Judge  of  all  shall 
make  known  the  true  characters  of  men. 

But  the  system  of  slavery,  as  established  by  law,  is  a 
sinful  system.  It  is  sinful  in  its  origin,  in  its  progress,  and 
in  its  consequences.  Like  sin  itself,  it  must  be  sinful,  till 
the  system  is  destroyed.  If  an  individual  would,  by  his 
own  power  and  will,  treat  others  as  slaves,  he  must  be  a 
sinner  of  the  worst  class.  When  it  is  done  by  a  state,  the 
state  is  as  chargeable  with  the  sinfulness  of  the  system  as 
any  individual  can  be  who  becomes  a  slaveholder  by  his 
own  will  and  deed,  and  for  his  own  sole  benefit ;  and  the 
very  acts  inseparable  from  the  slave  system,  as  the  depriva- 
tion of  rights — the  infliction  of  wrongs — are  acts  of  the 
most  gross,  immoral  character. 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

The  moral  delinquency  is  not  an  accident  or  circumstance, 
but  it  is  inherent  in  the  system,  and  belongs  to  its  very 
nature.  It  is  not  the  abuse  of  slavery  merely,  but  the  very 
existence  of  it,  that  is  wrong ;  and,  consequently,  there  is 
only  one  way  of  dealing  with  it,  and  that  is,  not  to  correct 
or  amend,  but  to  extirpate  it  altogether,  or,  in  other  words, 
to  destroy  its  very  roots. 

7.  Mgst__T!hristia.Tis  consider  slavery  as  wronfr.     The  ex- 
ceptions to  this  rule  are  very  few  when  sophistry  is  stripped 
of  its  garb.     Indeed.}^  TT"C*-  gnngp.fcpfjmis  \r\  all  ages. 
have  viewed  the  Vfirvfrm  ^  OHO  thaiosjnconsistent  with_the_ 
principles  of_right1_asjgell--ao  contrary  to  the  wordL_QJLGod. 
When  slavery  stands  forth  in  its  proper  characters,  few  are 
found  to  palliate  or  justify  it.     To  have  an  apologist  at  all, 
the  true  ground  must  be  changed,  and  a  false  position  as- 
sumed.    For  instance,  few  are  hardy  enough  to  contend  for 
stealing  men,  making  merchandise  of  the  stolen  property, 
or  for  using  it  as  such  when  obtained.     And  yet  the  very 
same  thing  is  done  every  day,  in  "stealing  children  as  soon 
as  they  are  born ;"  that  is,  making  them  slaves.     For  they 
might  as  well  be  stolen  from  Africa  as  seized  at  birth  by 
law  as  soon  as  born,  and  made  slaves.     It  amounts  to  the 
same  thing  in  fact,  depriving  a  free  person  of  liberty,  and 
no  more  than  this  was  done,  and  is  now  every  day  doing,  in 
the  African  slave-trade. 

8.  There  are  now,  however,  some  who  maintain   that 
slavery  is  not  wrong. 

The  present  ground  taken  by  the  south  is  one  of  recent 
date.  When  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
adopted,  there  were  few  to  plead  for  slavery.  Now  we 
find  religious  men — Presbyterians,  Baptists,  and  Method- 
ists— plead  for  the  innocence  of  slavery,  while  politicians 
are  now  loud  and  long  in  its  praises. 

We  have  many  Presbyterians  now  pleading  for  the  inno- 
cence of  slavery.  The  presbyteries  of  Hopewell,  Har- 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

mony,  and  Charleston  Union,  in  South  Carolina,  and  the 
synod  of  Virginia,  plead  stoutly  for  the  innocence  of  slav- 
ery. The  following,  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Pe- 
tersburg, Va.,  16th  of  November,  1838,  may  be  quoted  as 
a  specimen  of  the  general  sentiment  of  southern  Presbyte- 
rians: 

"Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  did,  hi  1818,  pass  a 
law  which  contains  provisions  for  slaves  irreconcilable  with 
our  civil  institutions,  and  solemnly  declared  slavery  to  be  a 
sin  against  God — a  law  at  once  offensive  and  insulting  to 
the  whole  southern  community: 

"Resolved,  1.  That,  as  slaveholders,  we  can  not  consent 
longer  to  remain  in  connection  with  any  Church  where 
there  exists  a  statute  conferring  a  right  upon  slaves  to 
arraign  their  masters  before  the  judicatory  of  the  Church, 
and  that,  too,  for  the  act  of  selling  them  without  their 
consent  first  had  and  obtained. 

"2.  That,  as  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  has  recog- 
nized the  relation  of  master  and  slave,  we  conscientiously 
believe  that  slavery  is  not  a  sin  against  God,  as  declared  by 
the  General  Assembly." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  James  Smylie,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of 
the  Amite  presbytery,  Mississippi,  in  his  answer  to  the 
Chilicothe  presbytery,  maintains  that  slavery  is  no  sin.  We 
select  the  following  from  his  book : 

"When  the  Scriptures  teach  me,  or  when  any  one  will 
show  me  that  the  Scriptures  do  teach,  that  slavery,  or  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave,  is  sinful,  then,  as  a  minister, 
and  as  a  Christian,  I  am  pledged  to  forsake  it,"  p.  12. 
"If  slavery  be  a  sin,  as  you  say,  and  if  advertising  and 
apprehending  slaves,  with  a  view  to  restore  them  to  their 
master,  is  a  direct  violation  of  the  Divine  law;  also, 
that  the  buying,  selling,  or  holding  a  slave  for  the  sake 
of  gain  is  a  heinous  sin  and  scandal,  then,  verily,  three- 
fourths  of  all  the  Episcopalians,  Methodists,  Baptists,  and 


INTRODUCTION.  25 

Presbyterians,  in  eleven  states  of  the  Union,  are  of  the 
devil.  They  hold,  if  they  do  not  buy  and  sell  slaves;  and, 
with  few  exceptions,  they  hesitate  not  to  apprehend  and 
restore  runaway  slaves,  when  in  their  power.  To  question, 
whether  slaveholders  or  slave-buyers  are  of  the  devil, 
seems  to  me  like  calling  in  question,  whether  God  is  or  is 
not  a  true  witness  ;  that  is,  provided  it  is  God's  testimony, 
and  not  merely  the  testimony  of  the  Chilicothe  presbytery, 
that  it  is  a  heinous  sin  and  scandal  to  buy,  sell,  or  hold 
slaves,"  p.  13.  "I  have,  years  ago,  entered  seriously  on 
the  investigation  of  the  question,  is  slavery,  in  itself,  sinful? 
and,  on  examination  of  the  Scriptures  and  facts,  as  brought 
to  light  by  history,  I  have  arrived  at  a  different  conclusion 
from  you.  I  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  that  slavery  /x 
itself  is  not  sinful,"  p.  16.  "The  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  * 
unequivocally  establishes  the  facLJhat 
waa  pnrpiioned  by  God  himself;  and 
that  buying^  selling,  holding,  and  beqaeathing  slaves,  as 
whjyfr  wem  iffifrhlished  hy  him- 


self," p.  21.  "He  [God]  gave  a  written  permit  to  the 
Hebrews  —  then  the  best  people  in  the  world  —  to  buy,  hold, 
and  bequeath  men  and  women  to  perpetual  servitude," 
p.  21.  "Indeed,  some  of  the  very  blessings,  or  favors, 
promised  to  the  faithful  are  the  stations  of  masters,"  p.  22. 

It  were  easy  to  extend  the  list  of  pro-slaveiy  Presbyte- 
rian authorities,  although  the  principles  of  the  Confession 
certainly  do  not  favor  slavery. 

Among  the  Baptists  we  can  find  those  who  plead,  that 
slavery  is  not  sin.  Dr.  Fuller  says  : 

"  I  do  deny  that  slavery  is  a  moral  evil,"  Fuller  and 
Wayland  on  Slavery,  p.  1.  "  The  JPljLJIgstement_did 
sanction  slavery,"  p.  3.  "I  undertake  to  show,  that  the 
Bible  does,  most  explicitly,  both  by  precept  and  example, 
bear  me  out  in  my  assertion  —  the  only  assertion  I  ever 
made  —  that  slavery  is  not  necessarily,  and  always,  and 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

amidst  all  circumstances,  a  sin.  This  is  the  position  to  be 
established ;  and  the  entire  reasoning — reasoning  which,  if 
the  premises  be  true,  really  seems  to  me  to  commend  itself 
at  once  to  every  man's  conscience — is  this:  WHAT  GOD 

SANCTIONED  IN  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT   AND   PERMITTED   IN   THE 

NEW  CAN  NOT  BE  SIN,"  p.  170.  Mr.  Stringfellow,  a  distin- 
guished Baptist,  in  a  letter  published  in  the  Religious  Her- 
ald of  February  4,  1841 — a  Baptist  paper — says:  "If  I  am 
not  greatly  mistaken,  I  shall  make  it  appear,  that  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery  has  received,  1st,  the  sanction  of  the 
Almighty,  in  the  patriarchal  age ;  2d,  that  it  was  incorpora- 
ted into  the  only  national  constitution  which  ever  emanated 
from  God ;  3d,  that  it  was  recognized,  and  its  relative  duties 
regulated  by  Jesus  Christ,  in  his  kingdom ;  and  lastly,  that 
it  is  full  of  mercy."  Again  he  says :  "  Here  [in  Scripture] 
are  laws  that  authorize  the  holding  of  men  and  women  in 
bondage,  and  chastening  them  with  the  whip  of  the  slave- 
holder, with  a  severity  that  terminates  in  death."  He  also 
declares :  "  The  divine  Lawgiver,  in  guarding  the  property 
right  of  slaves  among  his  chosen  people,  justifies  the  sepa- 
ration of  man  and  wife — father  and  children." 

The  Charleston  (S.  C.)  Baptist  association,  in  a  memorial 
to  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina,  says :  "  The  under- 
signed would  further  represent,  that  the  said  association 
does  not  consider  that  the  holy  Scriptures  have  made  the 
FACT  of  slavery  a  question  of  morals  at  all ;"  and  further : 
"  The  right  of  masters  to  dispose  of  the  time  of  their  slaves 
has  been  distinctly  recognized  by  the  Creator  of  all  things." 
(See  Correspondence  of  Birney  and  Elmore,  p.  33.) 

Again:  the  Edgefield  (S.  C.)  Baptist  association  says: 

"Resolved,  That  the  practical  question  of  slavery,  in  a 
country  where  the  system  has  obtained  as  a  part  of  its 
stated  policy,  is  settled,  in  the  Scripture,  by  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  apostles. 

"Resolved,  That  these  uniformly  recognized  the  relation 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

of  master  and  slave,  and  enjoined  on  both  their  respective 
duties,  under  a  system  of  servitude  more  degrading  and 
absolute  than  that  which  obtains  in  our  country."  (Idem.) 

It  is  only  a  few  years  since  that  any  Methodist  was  found 
to  declare,  that  the  system  of  slavery  was  not  morally 
wrong.  But  some  have  recently  commenced  to  imitate  or 
follow  the  members  of  other  Churches,  and  have  waned 
from  their  original  principles.  They  seem,  also,  to  have 
fallen  in  with  the  ranks  of  the  pro-slavery  politicians,  re- 
nouncing the  principles  of  their  early  days. 

The  first  avowal  of  this  moral  heterodoxy,  of  any  import- 
ance, are  the  declarations  and  resolutions  of  the  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia  conferences,  at  their  sessions  in  the  winter 
of  1837  and  1838. 

The  following  are  the  preamble  and  resolutions  of  the 
Georgia  conference,  passed  unanimously  at  its  session  held 
at  Athens,  Georgia,  December  13,  1837: 

"Whereas,  there  is  a  clause  in  the  Discipline  of  our 
Church,  which  states  that  we  are  as  much  as  ever  convinced 
of  the  great  evil  of  slavery;  and  whereas  the  said  clause 
has  been  perverted  by  some,  and  used  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  produce  the  impression  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  believed  slavery  to  be  a  moral  evil ;  therefore, 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  the  Georgia  annual 
conference  that  slavery,  as  it  exists  in  the  United  States,  is 
not  a  moral  evil. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  we  view  slavery  as  a  civil  and  domes- 
tic institution,  and  one  with  which,  as  ministers  of  Christ,  we 
have  nothing  to  do,  farther  than  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  the  slave,  by  endeavoring  to  impart  to  him  and  his  mas- 
ter the  benign  influence  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  aiding 
both  on  their  way  to  heaven." 

The  South  Carolina  conference,  at  its  session  held  in 
Columbia,  South  Carolina,  January  10,  1838,  had  the  fol- 
lowing action  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  introduced  by  the 


28  INTRODUCTION. 

Rev.  W.  Martin.  The  proceedings  are  given  as  published 
in  the  Southern  Christian  Advocate : 

"  Brother  Donelly  approved  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resolu- 
tions, but  remarked  on  the  inconsistency  of  any  action  of 
conference  on  a  subject  Avhich  was  avowed  to  be  foreign 
from  its  province.  He  also  brought  to  view  the  mischievous 
use  which  might  be  made  of  it  in  some  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, where  some  sought  to  take  up  the  time,  and  pervert  the 
business  of  conference,  with  debates  of  abolition.  Brother 
W.  Capers  expressed  a  conviction  that  the  sentiment  of  the 
resolution  was  universally  held,  not  only  by  the  ministers 
of  this  conference,  but  of  the  \oliole  south.  Still,  he  acknowl- 
edged the  force  of  the  remark  made  by  brother  Donelly, 
and  would  willingly  do  nothing  which  might  ever  be  per- 
verted to  a  pretext  for  the  mischievous  discussions  which 
were  going  on  in  another  quarter.  The  doctrine,  and  the 
only  true  doctrine,  was,  'It  belongs  to  Caesar,  and  not  to 
the  Church.'  But  the  subject,  right  or  wrong,  had  got 
into  the  Church.  He  would  suggest  to  the  mover  of  these 
resolutions,  whether  it  might  not  be  better,  all  things  con- 
sidered, to  adopt  the  following  substitute: 

" '  Whereas,  we  hold  that  the  subject  of  slavery,  in  the 
United  States,  is  not  one  proper  for  the  action  of  the 
Church,  but  is  exclusively  appropriate  to  the  civil  authori- 
ties; therefore, 

"  'Resolved,  That  this  conference  will  not  intermeddle  with 
it,  farther  than  to  express  our  regret  that  it  has  ever  been 
introduced,  in  any  form,  into  any  one  of  the  judicatures  of 
the  Church.' 

"  Brother  Martin  accepted  the  substitute.  Brother  Betts 
asked  whether  the  substitute  Avas  intended  as  implying  that 
slavery,  as  it  exists  among  us,  was  not  a  moral  evil.  He 
understood  it  as  equivalent  to  such  a  declaration.  Brother 
Capers  explained,  that  his  intention  was  to  convey  that  senti- 
ment fully  and  unequivocally;  and  that  he  had  chosen  the 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

form  of  substitute  for  the  purpose,  not  only  of  reproving 
tome  wrong  doings  at  the  north,  but  with  reference,  also,  to 
the  General  conference.  If  slavery  were  a  moral  evil  [that 
is,  sinful]  the  Church  would  be  bound  to  take  cognizance  of 
it;  but  our  affirmation  is  that  it  is  not  a  matter  for  her 
jurisdiction,  but  is  exclusively  appropriate  to  the  civil  gov- 
ernment, and,  of  course,  not  sinful.  The  substitute  was 
then  unanimously  adopted." 

After  the  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  conferences,  the 
most  prominent  advocate  for  slavery  is  the  Rev.  Augustus 
B.  Longstreet,  LL.  D.,  in  an  octavo  pamphlet  of  forty- 
seven  pages,  addressed  to  Doctors  Durbin,  Bangs,  Peck,  and 
Elliott,  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  1845.  We  select  from 
this  pamphlet  the  following  astounding  sentiments : 

"Only  convince  us  that  God  forbids  the  relationship  of 
master  and  slave — nay,  only  give  us  a  satisfactory  answer 
to  the  arguments  which  we  adduce  from  Scripture  to  show 
that  he  sanctions  it — and  all  the  wounds  of  our  Church 
will  be  healed  in  an  instant,"  p.  5.  "  What  you  believe 
to  be  sinful,  we  believe  to  be  perfectly  innocent,"  p.  6. 
"  It  [Paul's  Epistle  to  Philemon]  recognizes  the  relation  of 
master  and  slave  as  perfectly  innocent,"  p.  9. 

In  Dr.  Longstreet's  letter  to  Dr.  Durbin,  in  the  Southern 
Christian  Advocate  of  December  26,  1845,  he  peremptorily 
denies  the  sinfulness  of  slavery.  He  says,  "  A  brother  and 
myself  had  referred  to  the  Scriptures  to  prove  that  slavery 
was  no  sin." 

The  following  is  the  declared  opinion  of  Rev.  E.  D. 
Simms,  of  Randolph  Macon  College:  (See  Barnes,  p.  29.) 

"  These  extracts  from  holy  writ  unequivocally  assert  the 
right  of  property  in  slaves,  together  with  the  usual  inci- 
dents of  that  right,  such  as  the  power  of  acquisition  and 
disposition  in  various  ways,  according  to  municipal  regula- 
tions. The  right  to  buy  or  sell,  and  to  transmit  to  children 
by  way  of  inheritance,  is  clearly  stated.  The  only  restric- 
3* 


30  INTRODUCTION. 

tion  on  the  subject,  is  in  reference  to  the  market  in  which 
slaves  or  bondmen  were  to  be  purchased. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  then,  whether  we  consult  the  Jewish 
polity,  instituted  by  God  himself,  or  the  uniform  opinion 
and  practice  of  mankind  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  or  the 
injunctions  of  the  New  Testament  and  the  moral  law,  we 
are  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  slavery  is  not  immoral. 
Having  established  the  point,  that  the  first  African  slaves 
were  legally  brought  into  bondage,  the  right  to  detain  their 
children  in  bondage  follows  as  an  indispensable  consequence. 

"Thus  we  see  that  the  slavery  which  exists  in  America 
was  founded  in  right." 

Within  the  last  few  years  the  innocence  of  the  system  of 
slavery  has  been  asserted,  with  great  earnestness,  by  south- 
ern statesmen.  We  will  give  a  few  specimens. 

After  the  Southampton  insurrection  in  1831,  the  eyes  of 
the  southern  people  were,  for  a  short  while,  opened  to  the 
horrors  of  slavery.  Hence,  a  strong  abolition  party  arose 
in  Virginia.  Slavery  was  freely  discussed  in  the  Legislature 
of  that  state.  At  this  time,  to  calm  the  consciences  of 
slaveholders,  Thomas  R.  Dew,  a  professor  in  William  and 
Mary  College,  wrote  a  pamphlet  in  favor  of  slavery,  and 
"  boldly  grappled  with  the  abolitionists  on  the  great  ques- 
tion." Mr.  Dew  maintained  that  the  system  of  slavery 
was  not  sinful.  He  also  appealed  to  the  cupidity  of  the 
people.  He  shows  that  negro  slaves  are  the  great  staple 
of  Virginia,  inasmuch  as  "upward  of  six  thousand  are 
yearly  exported  to  other  states."  So  that  Virginia  receives 
from  the  sale  of  human  beings  not  less  than  $1,200,000 
every  year.  In  the  professor's  own  words,  "  Virginia  is,  in 
fact,  a  negro-raising  state  for  other  states.  She  produces 
enough  for  her  own  supply,  and  six  thousand  [annual!}']  for 
sale."  He  also  declares  "the  slaves  in  Virginia  multiply 
more  rapidly  than  in  most  of  -the  southern  states ;  the  Vir- 
ginians can  raise  them  cheaper  than  they  can  buy  them ;  in 


INTRODUCTION.  31 

fact,  it  is  one  of  their  greatest  sources  of  profit."  Mr.  Dew 
first  published  in  the  American  Quarterly,  and  then,  with 
much  enlargement,  in  a  pamphlet,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  large  pages,  in  Richmond.  (See  Bacon  on  Slavery, 
p.  94.) 

Mr.  M'Duffie,  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  in  his  message 
to  the  Legislature  in  1834,  declares  as  follows: 

"  No  human  institution,  in  my  opinion,  is  more  manifestly  \ 
consistent  with  the  will  -of  God  than  domestic  slavery,  and  V 
no  one  of  his  ordinances  is  written  in  more  legible  charac-     J 
ters  than  that  which  consigns  the  African  race  to  this  condi-    I 
tion,  as  more  conducive  to  their  own  happiness  than  any/ 
other  of  which  they  are  susceptible. 

"  Domestic  slavery,  therefore,  instead  of  being  a  political 
evil,  ^Jsjjjie  corner-stone  of  ourrepuBITcah^  edifice.  No 
patriot,  who  justly  estimates'  ollf  privileges,  will  tolerate  the 
idea  of  emancipation  at  any  period,  however  remote,  or  on 
any  conditions  of  pecuniary  advantage,  however  favorable. 
I  would  as  soon  open  a  negotiation  for  selling  the  liberty  of 
the  state  at  once,  as  of  making  any  stipulations  for  the 
ultimate  emancipation  of  our  slaves.  So  deep  is  my  con- 
viction on  this  subject,  that,  if  I  were  doomed  to  die  imme- 
diately after  recording  these  sentiments,  I  could  say,  in  all 
sincerity,  and  under  all  the  sanctions  of  Christianity  and 
patriotism,  '  God  forbid  that  my  descendants,  in  the  remot- 
est generations,  should  live  in  any  other  than  a  community 
having  the  institution  of  domestic  slavery,  as  it  existed 
among  the  patriarchs  of  the  primitive  Church,  and  in  all 
the  states  of  antiquity.' "  (See  Quarterly  Antislavery  Mag- 
azine for  January,  1830,  p.  208.) 

Mr.  Calhoun  is  reported,  in  the  National  Intelligencer,  as 
having  delivered,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1836  or  1837,  in 
the  senate,  these  words: 

"Many  in  the  south  once  believed  that  it  [slavery]  was  a 
moral  and  political  evil.  That  folly  and  delusion  are  gone. 


32  INTRODUCTION. 

We  see  it  now  in  its  true  light,  and  regard  it  as  the  most 
:e  and  stable  basis  for  free  institutions  in  the  world." 
r.  Hammond,  on  February  1,  1836,  declared,  in  Con- 


"I  do  firmly  believe  that  domestic  slavery,  regulated  as 
ours  is,  produces  the  highest-toned,  the  purest,  the  best 
organization  of  society  that  has  ever  existed  on  the  face  of 
the  earth." 

The  Hon.  Whitemarsh  B.  Seabrook,  President  of  the 
Agricultural  Society  of  St.  John's,  Colleton,  in  his  essay 
on  the  management  of  slaves,  published  by  order  of  the 
Society,  Charleston,  1834,  declares  as  follows:  (See  Anti- 
slavery  Quarterly  for  1836,  p.  123.) 

"In  the  first  place,  I  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that,  in 
the  judgment  of  my  fellow-citizens,  slavery  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  laws  ot  nature,  or  of  God.  TEe  Bible 
informs  us,  that  it  was  established  and  sanctioned  by  Divine 
authority  among  even  the  elects  of  heaven-;  and  the  history 
of  every  age  andjsmmErv  attests  that  personal  servitude  has 
been  the  lot  of  aTconsISefabte rpoRioUTrf~iTrankm€k-  -I  be- 
lieve, moreover,^  thjIT  sucjjg&tUlly  to  carry  on  the  great 
business  of  the  world,  slavery,  in  some  form,  Is  as  necessary 
as  the  division  of  labor  itself. 

"As  slavery  exists  in  South  Carolina,  the  action  of  the 
citizens  should  rigidly  conform  to  that  state  of  things.  If 
abstract  opinions  of  the  rights  of  man  are  allowed  in  any 
instance  to  modify  the  police  system  of  a  plantation,  the 
authority  of  the  master,  and  the  value  of  his  estate,  will  be 
as  certainly  impaired,  as  that  the  peace  of  the  blacks  them- 
selves will  be  injuriously  affected.  Whoever  believes  slavery 
to  be  immoral  or  illegal,  and,  under  that  belief,  frames  a 
code  of  laws  for  the  government  of  his  people,  is  practically 
an  enemy  of  the  state.  Such  a  person  is  utterly  unfit  to 
fulfill  the  obligation  of  his  trust,  and  the  most  acceptable 
service  he  could  render  his  fellow-citizens,  would  be  to 


INTRODUCTION.  33 

emigrate  with  his  property  to  the  land  of  the  Tappans  and 
the  Garrisons." 

9.  Although  our  purpose  is  to  survey  the  moral  character 
of  slavery,  yet  we  may  not  overlook  those  civil  or  political 
features  of  the  system  which  involve  morals  or  right  princi- 
ples. 

We  transcribe  the  following  from  Dr.  Wayland's  second 
letter  to  Dr.  Fuller :  "  The  terms  moral  evil  may  be  used  to 
designate  two  ideas  widely  dissimilar  from  each  other,  and 
depending  \ipon  entirely  different  principles.  In  the  one 
sense,  it  means  wrong — the  violation  of  the  relations  which 
exist  between  the  parties — the  transgression  of  a  moral  law 
of  God.  In  the  other  sense,  it  means  the  personal  guilt 
which  attaches  to  the  being  who  does  the  wrong,  violates 
the  obligation,  or  transgresses  the  law.  In  the  first  sense, 
moral  evil  depends  upon  the  immutable  relations  which' God 
has  established  between  his  moral  creatures.  In  the  second 
sense,  meaning  personal  guilt,  it  depends  upon  the  light,  the 
knowledge  of  duty,  means  of  obtaining  information  on  the 
subject,  and  may  be  different  in  different  persons  and  at 
different  times.  In  the  first  sense,  when  we  affirm  that 
slavery  is  not  a  moral  evil,  we  affirm  that  to  hold  a  man  in 
slavery,  as  it  has  been  above  explained,  is  right,  that  it 
violates  no  law  of  God,  and  is  at  variance  with  no  moral 
relation  existing  between  man  and  man." 

The  distinction  given  above  has  much  of  truth  in  it. 
Nevertheless,  it  needs  to  be  duly  guarded,  so  that  what  may 
be  ascribed  to  pardonable  ignorance  or  prejudice,  may  not 
be  properly  attributed  to  a  culpable  ignorance  which  has 
no  palliation  in  the  word  of  God.  And  we  fear  Dr.  Way- 
land,  in  his  answer  to  Fuller,  gives  a  degree  of  encourage- 
ment to  a  very  large  class  of  slaveholders  to  continue  in 
willful  ignorance,  or  to  be  governed  by  mere  customs  and 
usages,  which  are  most  clearly  repugnant  to  the  word  of 
God.  And  it  is  most  true,  that  whatever  of  palliation  may 


84  INTRODUCTION. 

be  admitted  on  behalf  of  the  prejudiced  slaveholder,  the 
grossly  sinful  and  immoral  character  of  slavery  can  receive 
no  palliation  so  as  to  strip  it  of  its  essential  sinfulness,  which 
it  inherently  possesses,  and  is  not  susceptible  of  reform,  any 
more  than  murder,  theft,  or  lying,  in  their  true  character- 
istics, can  be  reformed.  The  reformation  of  slavery  would 
be  its  destruction. 

10.  We  will  test  the  character  of  slavery  by  the  stand- 
ard of  holy  Scripture. 

As  we  treat  of  slavery  only  in  its  moral  character,  the 
standard  by  which  we  are  to  judge  of  its  moral  qualities  is 
the  moral  laws  of  God  as  contained  in  holy  Scripture,  for- 
bidding all  sin  and  enjoining  every  duty  relating  to  God  and 
man. 

The  following  are  the  reasons  why  we  bring  slavery  to 
the  test  of  holy  Scripture : 

(1.)  The  Bible  is  the  standard  of  morals,  and  to  this 
standard  every  other  authority  should  be  subservient. 

(2.)  Slavery  is  a  subject  on  which  the  Bible  has  legis- 
lated, and  therefore  it  is  most  fit  to  ascertain  what  are  its 
decisions  on  the  subject. 

(3.)  Hence  there  is  no  other  standard  than  the  Bible,  by 
which  the  question  whether  slavery  is  right  or  wrong  can  be 
denied. 

(4.)  Any  other  standard  than  Scripture  can  never  effect 
a  reform  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

(5.)  The  defenders  of  slavery  now  claim  the  authority  of 
the  Bible  in  favor  of  slavery,  and  therefore  it  is  proper 
to  meet  them  on  this  ground.  (See  Barnes  on  Slavery, 
pp.  21-37.) 

As  our  discussion  is  in  reference  to  the  moral  character  of 
slavery,  and  especially  as  it  concerns  Christians  as  Chris- 
tians, the  supreme  rule  of  duty  must  be  the  moral  law  of 
God  as  contained  in  Scripture,  but  not  the  civil  law.  If  the 
civil  law  were  the  supreme  rule,  it  would  not  admit  the 


INTRODUCTION.  35 

moral  law  to  have  any  authority,  further  than  it  might  be 
subservient  to  the  civil  law.  Still  it  may  be  a  point  too  nice 
for  decision  here,  how  far  the  obligations  of  the  civil  code 
may  be  relaxed  by  the  supreme  law  of  God.  This  we  will 
not  just  now  attempt  to  do.  But,  as  we  ai-e  addressing  the 
consciences  of  men  on  Christian  principles,  we  must  main- 
tain the  complete  supremacy  of  God's  laws  over  all  pre- 
scriptions of  men.  The  true  doctrine  is  that  none,  whether 
a  majority  or  minority  in  the  state,  have  any  right  to  trample 
on  the  divine,  or  natural  rights  of  others,  in  any  way.  If 
they  do,  they  are  accountable  to  God  for  the  abuse  of  their 
power,  and  will  be  punished  for  this  abuse  here  or  hereafter. 
Nations  shall  be  punished  as  nations,  in  this  world  only,  and 
individuals  as  individuals,  both  in  this  world  and  the  world 
to  come. 

11.  It  may  be  proper  to  inquire  here,  what  persons  are 
included  under  the  denomination  of  slaves. 

In  an  act  of  Maryland  in  the  year  1663,  chapter  30,  it  is 
declared,  "All  negroes  or  other  slaves  within  the  province, 
and  all  negroes  and  other  slaves  to  be  hereafter  imported 
into  the  province,  shall  serve  durante  vita,  [during  lifef\ 
and  all  children  born  of  any  negro  or  other  slave,  shall  be 
slaves  as  their  fathers  were  for  the  term  of  their  lives." 
And  all  children  of  white  free  women  and  negro  slaves, 
were  also  doomed  to  slavery,  although  this  clause  was  sub- 
sequently repealed.  The  doctrine  that  "partus  sequitur 
patrem  " — the  offspring  follows  the  condition  of  the  father — 
obtained  in  the  province  of  Maryland  till  the  year  1699 
or  1700.- 

In  the  year  1715  the  following  law  was  passed  in  Mary- 
land: "All  negroes  and  other  slaves  already  imported  or 
hereafter  to  be  imported  into  this  province,  and  all  children 
now  born,  and  hereafter  to  be  born,  of  such  negroes  and 
slaves,  shall  be  slaves  during  their  natural  lives."  Thus  was 
the  maxim  of  the  civil  law — "partus  sequitur  ventrem" — 


36  INTRODUCTION. 

introduced,  and  the  condition  of  the  mother,  from  that  day 
up  to  the  present  time,  has  continued  to  determine  the  fate 
of  the  child.  This  barbarous  and  heathen  maxim  of  the 
civil  law — the  genuine  and 'degrading  principle  of  slavery, 
placing  the  slave  on  a  level  with  the  brute  animals — prevails 
universally  in  the  slave  states. 

The  following  law  of  South  Carolina  has  been  adopted, 
in  substance,  by  the  other  slave  states :  "  All  negroes,  In- 
dians— free  Indians  in  amity  with  this  government,  and 
negroes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizoes  who  are  now  free  ex- 
cepted — mulattoes,  or  mestizoes,  who  now  are,  or  shall  here- 
after be,  in  this  province,  and  all  their  issue  and  offspring, 
born  or  to  be  born,  shall  be  and  they  are  hereby  declared 
to  be  and  remain  forever  hereafter  absolute  slaves,  and  shall 
follow  the  condition  of  the  mother."  By  this  law,  any 
person  whose  maternal  ancestor,  even  in  the  remotest  dis- 
tance, can  be  shown  to  have  been  a  negro,  or  an  Indian,  or 
a  mulatto,  or  mestizo,  not  free  at  the  date  of  the  law, 
although  the  paternal  ancestor  at  each  successive  generation 
may  have  been  a  white  free  man,  is  declared  to  be  the  sub- 
ject of  perpetual  slavery.  This  is  a  degree  of  cruelty  and 
avarice  unknown  in  any  other  civilized  country. 

The  following  are  the  distinctions  usually  known  among 
the  mixed  races:  1.  The  mulattoes,  derived  from  the  inter- 
mixtures of  the  whites  and  negroes.  2.  The  terceroons, 
being  three-fourths  white,  produced  from  a  white  and  mu- 
latto. 3.  The  quadroons,  produced  from  a  white  and  a  ter- 
ceroon,  being  seven-eighths  white.  4.  The  guintroons,  being 
fifteen-sixteenths  white,  who  owe  their  origin  to  a  white  and 
a  quadroon.  This  is  the  last  gradation,  there  being  no 
sensible  difference  between  them  and  the  whites,  either  in 
color  or  features.  Yet  even  these,  and  their  descendants  to 
the  remotest  generations,  are  deemed  slaves.  And  the 
advertisements  for  runaways  sometimes  note  that  the  run- 
away has  sometimes  been  taken  for  a  white  man.  Very 


INTRODUCTION.  37 

many  of  the  slaves  of  the  present  day  are  properly  white 
persons.  And  as  nearly  all  the  colored  slaves  are  the 
children  of  white  fathers,  a  very  large  number  of  the  slaves 
of  the  south  are  the  children,  grandchildren,  or  descend- 
ants of  these  white  masters,  who  have  continued,  generation 
after  generation,  to  enslave  their  own  progeny  and  the 
progeny  of  their  own  fathers,  grandfathers,  and  remote  an- 
cestors ! 

Indians,  too,  may  be  held  as  slaves;  but  the  cases  of 
such  are  now  so  few,  that,  for  our  purpose,  it  is  unnecessary 
to  take  this  class  of  slaves  into  the  account. 

By  the  laws  of  many  of  the  slave  states,  persons  now 
free  may  become  slaves.  In  Virginia,  "  if  any  emancipated 
slave,  infants  excepted,  shall  remain  within  the  state  more 
than  twelve  months  after,  his  or  her  right  to  freedom  shall 
have  accrued,  he  or  she  shall  forfeit  all  such  right,  and  may 
be  apprehended  and  sold  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor  for 
the  benefit  of  the  literary  fund."  In  Georgia,  a  penalty  of 
$100  is  incurred  by  any  free  person  of  color  for  coming  into 
the  state;  and  "upon  failure  to  pay  the  same  within  the 
time  prescribed  in  the  sentence,  etc.,  he,  she,  or  they  shall 
be  liable  to  be  sold  by  public  outcry  as  a  slave."  In  Mis- 
sissippi, every  negro  or  mulatto  found  within  the  state,  and 
not  having  the  ability  to  prove  himself  entitled  to  freedom, 
may  be  sold,  by  order  of  the  court,  as  a  slave. 

12.  The  present  ground  of  the  south  is  very  different 
from  what  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution, 
and  many  years  after.  Few,  "if  any,  were  then  found  to 
apologize  for,  much  less  maintain  slavery.  Neither  the  pul- 
pit nor  the  press  had  any  arguments  to  adduce  for  enslaving 
men.  But  the  evil  practice,  in  time,  produced  the  justifying 
theories  of  recent  years.  Now  grave  divines  teach  that 
there  is  nothing  immoral  in  enslaving  men.  That  is,  they 
may  be  stolen,  or  robbed,  deprived  of  all  their  just  rights, 
and  unjustly  punished  with  many  grievous  wrongs;  and  all 
4 


38  INTRODUCTION. 

-•V 

this  lias  no  moral  evil  in  it !  Times  are  changed,  and  mu- 
table human  beings  change  with  the  evil  practices.  Yet 
the  truth  remains,  and  will  yet  revolutionize  the  evil  maxima 
and  customs  of  the  times. 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TBADE  AND  SLAVERY.  39 


CHAPTER  II. 

MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE  AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY. 

1.  AMERICAN  slavery  is  morally  wrong  or  sinful  in  its 
origin — the  African  slave-trade ;  and  this  wrong  is  still  con- 
tinued in  maintaining  the  present  system,  and  is  inseparable 
from  it. 

The  African  slave-trade  has  been  pronounced  piracy  by 
the  United  States,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  civilized 
world.  And  piracy,  because  of  its  immoral  and  sinful 
character,  is  one  of  the  most  atrocious  systems  in  the  world. 
Therefore,  the  African  slave-trade  is  highly  immoral,  in  all 
its  leading  characteristics.  Hence,  it  is  pronounced  a  capi- 
tal crime — the  same  with  murder  in  the  first  degree,  or  high 
treason,  because  it  is  punished  with  the  greatest  penalty, 
even  that  of  death. 

Now,  it  can  be  shown  that  American  slavery  partakes  of 
atrocities  similar  or  equal  to  those  of  the  African  slave- 
trade  ;  and  it  must,  therefore,  receive  the  same  sentence  of 
condemnation.  It  is  not  necessary,  in  order  to  arrive  at 
this  conclusion,  that  we  can  find  all  the  evils  of  the  slave- 
trade,  or  those  even  in  the  same  degree,  in  the  system  of 
American  slavery.  It  is  sufficient  that  we  find  enough  to 
show  a  clear  characteristic  identity,  whether  we  find  the 
same  number  of  atrocities,  or  find  them  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree. 

2.  A  very  brief  survey  of  the  origin  of  the  trade  may 
not  be  amiss. 

Long  before  the  discovery  of  America,  the  celebrated 
Portuguese  navigator,  Anthony  Gonzales,  in  exploring  the 
coast  of  Africa,  had  seized  and  carried  home  with  him  some 
Moors.  These,  however,  Prince  Henry,  of  Portugal,  imme- 
diately ordered  to  be  returned  to  their  country.  As  an 
expression  of  gratitude,  the  Moors  sent  over  to  Portugal  ten 


40  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

blacks  and  a  quantity  of  gold.  This  gave  rise  to  the  traf- 
fic in  slaves  by  the  Portuguese,  and  led  to  their  African 
discoveries. 

But,  while  Portugal  became  the  importers  in  the  trade, 
Spain  soon  partook  of  the  system  in  purchasing  from  the 
Portuguese.  Hence,  both  Portuguese  and  Spaniards,  by 
their  home  slaves,  were  prepared  to  introduce  the  system 
into  America. 

In  1502  some  slaves  were  taken  to  Hispaniola.  In  1511 
Ferdinand  the  Catholic  allowed  a  large  importation.  But 
these  were  private  and  partial  speculations.  Charles  V,  in 
1517,  however,  being  pressed  on  the,  one  hand  by  the  de- 
mand for  labor  in  the  American  settlements,  and  on  the 
other  by  Las  Casas  and  others,  who  pleaded  that  the  Afri- 
cans should  be  introduced  into  America  to  relieve  the 
Indians  from  slavery,  granted  to  one  of  the  Flemish  court- 
iers the  exclusive  privilege  of  importing  four  thousand 
blacks  to  the  West  Indies.  The  Fleming  sold  his  privilege 
for  25,000  ducats,  or  about  125,000,  to  some  Genoese 
merchants,  who  organized  a  regular  slave-trade  between 
Africa  and  America.  As  the  European  settlements  in 
America  increased  and  extended,  the  demand  for  slaves 
also  increased ;  and  all  European  nations,  who  had  colonies 
in  America,  shared  in  the  slave-trade. 

/"  It  was  about  1551  that  the  English   began  trading  to 
Guinea;   at  first  for  gold  and  elephants'   teeth,   but  soon 
after  for  men.     In  ]  556  Sir  John  Hawkins  sailed  with  two 
ships  to  Cape  VenC~where  he  sent  eighty  men  on  shore  to 
catch  negroes.     But  the  natives  flying,  they  fell  farther 
;    down,  and  Mr.  Hawkins  set  his  men  on  shore  to  "burn 
\their  towns  and  take  the    inhabitants."     But  they  were 
•  repulsed  by  the  natives,  and  lost  seven  men,  and  took  only 
i  ten  negroes.     But  he  continued  his  depredations,  and  suc- 
\cceded  in  obtaining  a  cargo,  which  he  sold  in  the  West  In- 
dies.    Shortly  after  the  trade  set  in  for  the  British  colonies. 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  41 

Even  then,  this  traffic  in  human  beings  smote  the  con- 
sciences of  many  of  those  concerned  in  it.  Charles  V 
seems  to  have  repented  of  the  countenance  which  he  gave 
to  this  wicked  and  sinful  procedure.  Pope  Leo  X,  his  co- 
temporary,  denounced  the  system,  and  declared  "that  not 
only  the  Christian  religion,  but  nature  itself,  cried  out 
against  a  state  of  slavery."  Louis  XIII,  of  France,  was 
much  troubled  in  conscience  about  the  traffic  in  slaves ;  but 
his  scruples  were  allayed  by  the  argument,  that  it  furnished 
an  opportunity  to  convert  them  to  Christianity.  Queen 
Elizabeth,  who,  deceived  by  Sir  John  Hawkins,  cautioned 
him  not  to  carry  the  Africans  to  America  without  their 
consent,  said  "it  would  be  detestable,  and  would  call  down 
the  vengeance  of  Heaven  on  the  undertaking." 

But,  notwithstanding  these  early  scruples,  the  Christians 
of  Europe  entered  largely  into  the  profitable  commerce, 
wicked  as  it  was.  And  the  Christians  of  America  received 
the  stolen  goods,  and,  in  time,  commenced  the  work  of 
importation  too.  The  trade  was  so  lucrative,  that  the 
minds  of  the  traders  became  so  blunted  to  the  feelings  of 
justice,  and  so  extensively  did  this  spread,  that  it  became  a 
common  branch  of  trade  by  the  Christian  nations  of  Europe 
and  America. 

3.  In  order  to  have  a  correct  idea  of  the  African  slave- 
trade,  we  must  consider  in  what  manner  slaves  are  procured 
in  Africa,  how  they  are  conveyed  to  America,  and  how 
they  are  disposed  of  and  treated  when  they  arrive. 

(1.)  How  are  the  slaves  procured  in  Africa?  The  fol- 
lowing seem  to  be  the  modes  by  which  the  slaves  were  pro- 
cured. Some  were  procured  by  the  fraud  of  the  white 
Christians.  Captains  of  ships,  from  time  to  time,  have  in- 
vited negroes  to  come  on  board,  and  then  seized  them  and 
carried  them  away. 

But  they  were  mostly,  after  the  frauds  became  unsuc- 
cessful, procured  by  force  by  the  whites.  The  Christians 
4* 


42  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

landing  on  their  coasts,  seized  as  many  as  they  found — • 
men,  women,  and  children — and  transported  them  to 
America. 

When  force  and  fraud  had  done  their  best,  in  the  work 
of  enslaving,  the  Europeans  excited  the  Africans  to  make 
war  on  each  other,  and  to  sell  their  prisoners.  Until  then, 
it  is  said,  they  seldom  had  wars,  but  were,  in  general,  quiet 
and  peaceable;  but  the  white  man  first  taught  them  drunk- 
enness and  avarice,  and  then  hired  them  to  sell  one  another. 
By  this  means  kings  sell  their  own  subjects,  often  having 
taken  them  by  surprise.  Others  make  depredations  on  the 
territories  of  others,  and  take  the  people,  and  sell  them  to 
the  whites. 

Some  of  the  slaves  purchased  were  stolen.  "  Many  little 
blacks,  of  both  sexes,  are  stolen  away  by  their  neighbors, 
when  found  abroad  in  the  road,  or  in  the  woods,  or  else  in 
the  cornfields,  at  the  time  of  year  when  their  parents  keep 
them  there  all  day,  to  scare  away  the  devouring  birds." 

Thus,  the  slaves  were  procured  in  these  four  ways: 
1.  By  fraud  of  the  Christians,  who  decoyed  them,  and 
then  took  them  away;  2.  By  force,  when  they  seized 
them  in  their  own  territories,  then  took  them  away,  and 
sold  them;  3.  The  whites  purchased  those  that  had  been 
taken  captives  by  war;  4.  Or  they  purchased  those  who 
were  stolen  by  others. 

Can  we  say,  that  no  moral  turpitude  attaches  to  those 
who  engage  in  the  enormities  which  take  place  in  procuring 
slaves  in  Africa?  Is  not  that  man  made  morally  worse, 
who  is  induced  to  become  a  tiger  to  his  species?  or  who, 
instigated  by  avarice,  lies  in  wait  in  the  market  to  seize  his 
fellow-man?  Is  there  no  injustice,  where  the  prince  seizes 
his  innocent  subjects,  and  sells  them  for  slaves?  Does  no 
crime  attach  to  those  who  accuse  others  falsely,  or  who 
multiply  crimes  for  the  sake  of  the  profit  of  the  punish- 
ment? Now,  if  these  things  are  so,  how  can  the  very  same 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.         43 

thing,  though  done  in  a  different  manner,  be  innocent  in 
America?  The  act  done,  both  in  America  and  in  Africa, 
is,  to  seize  an  innocent  person,  by  force,  fraud,  or  law, 
deprive  him  of  his  liberty,  and  sell  him  for  a  slave. 
Wherein  does  the  American  slave-breeding,  the  sales  by  the 
master,  the  purchasers  of  these,  the  barracoons  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  of  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  the  slave 
gangs  by  land  or  the  same  by  sea,  the  auctions,  parents 
selling  their  children,  grandchildren,  brothers,  parting  of 
parents  and  children,  husband  and  wife,  the  seizure,  and 
advertising,  and  sale  of  free  negroes,  and  all  the  other  inde- 
scribable and  undescribed  enormities  of  the  system — we  ask, 
wherein  do  the  sins  of  the  capture,  detention,  and  sales  of 
Africa  exceed  the  sins  of  Christian  America,  which,  with 
its  Bibles,  churches,  Christians,  army,  navy,  police,  laws, 
usages,  and  habits,  systematically,  deliberately,  openly,  and 
unblushingly  sustains  the  present  system  of  slavery?  Let 
conscience  and  an  enlightened  judgment  decide  the  question. 
(2.)  Their  passage  across  the  Atlantic.  This  is  the 
noted  "middle  passage."  When  they  are  brought  down 
to  the  African  shore  to  be  sold,  the  white  surgeons  exam- 
ine them,  mostly  naked,  women  and  men,  without  any  dis- 
tinction. Those  approved  are  set  apart  by  themselves.  A 
hot  iron  marks  them  with  the  arms  or  name  of  the  com- 
pany to  which  they  belong.  They  are  then  stowed  away  in 
the  ships,  naked,  men  and  women  together,  and  crowded  into 
as  little  room  as  possible,  and  most  of  them  shackled.  Many 
die  in  the  passage.  Many  more  die  at  the  different  islands, 
in  what  is  called  the  seasoning.  Thus  about  from  one-fifth  to 
one- third  die  in  the  passage  or  by  the  seasoning.  And  do 
those  experience  no  corruption  of  their  nature,  or  become 
chargeable  with  no  violation  of  rights,  who  engage  in  this 
traffic?  and  can  their  hearts  be  otherwise  than  hardened, 
who  are  familiar  with  the  tears  and  groans  of  innocent  stran- 
gers, when  torn  from  their  country,  and  who  see  them  on 


44  MOUAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

board  their  vessels,  in  a  state  of  suffocation,  and  in  the 
agonies  of  despair?  and  how  can  the  American  slaveholder 
be  engaged  in  the  same  or  similar  acts,  connected  with  the 
commerce  in  slaves  in  neighborhoods  and  between  the  states  ? 

(3.)  When  the  vessels  arrive  at  their  destined  port,  the 
negroes  are  again  exposed,  naked,  for  the  most  part,  to 
the  eyes  of  all  that  flock  together,  and  the  examination  of 
purchasers.  The  slave  markets  arc  very  like  cattle  markets. 
The  negroes  are  there  examined  like  a  horse,  as  to  the  sound- 
ness of  limb  and  capabilities  for  toil.  They  are  exposed  to 
the  competitions  of  purchasers,  sold  to  the  highest  bidder, 
and  turned  over  to  oppressive  labor,  under  the  excitement 
of  the  whip. 

In  this  traffic  parents  and  children,  husbands  and  wives 
are  separated  without  the  least  scruple;  and  they  and 
their  offspring  are  destined  to  a  cruel  bondage  to  endless 


Now,  follow  these,  and  see  them  laboring  for  the  benefit 
of  those  to  whom  they  are  under  no  obligation,  by  any  law, 
natural  or  divine,  to  obey.  If  they  disobey  the  commands 
of  their  purchasers,  however  weary,  feeble,  or  indisposed, 
they  are  subject  to  corporeal  punishment,  and,  if  forcibly 
resisting  them,  to  death.  Their  spirits  must  be  broken  and 
subdued.  They  are  subject  to  such  individual  persecution 
as  anger,  malice,  or  any  bad  passion  may  suggest :  hence  the 
whip,  the  chain,  the  iron  collar,  and  the  various  modes  of 
private  torture ;  and  though  these  cruelties  may  be  against 
even  the  slave  laws,  as  they  can  not  be  witnessed,  they  must 
be  suffered  without  redress ;  and  finally,  their  innocent  off- 
spring are  subject  to  the  same  treatment.  And  can  all  this 
be  done  without  sin?  and  surely  it  is  done  constantly  in 
practical  American  slavery.  And  who  can  show  the  differ- 
ence, in  reality,  between  this  and  the  African  slave-trade, 
except  that  some  of  the  modes  of  doing  the  one  may  be 
more  cruel  than  those  employed  in  another?  The  distinc- 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  45 

tion  is  something  like  what  occurs  in  willful  murder:  some 
may  kill  at  once,  by  one  blow,  or  the  discharge  of  a  rifle; 
while  another  may,  in  a  more  inhuman  way,  really  butcher 
his  victim;  but  in  both  cases  it  is  murder. 

A  member  of  Congress  for  Massachusetts  thus  describes 
the  home  traffic: 

"  The  number  of  slaves  annually  sold  from  the  more  north- 
ern slave  states  to  the  south-west  is  believed  to  be  not  less 
than  forty  thousand,  yielding — as  they  are  assorted  lots — 
$25,000,000.  The  sale  of  forty  thousand  men,  women,  and 
children  is  easily  spoken  of.  It  is  dispatched  in  a  period. 
But  what  an  untold  and  indescribable  aggregation  and  com- 
plication of  wretchedness  does  it  represent !  Each  of  those 
forty  thousand  was  a  father  or  mother,  brother  or  sister,  hus- 
band or  wife,  with  heart-strings  to  be  wrung  by  separation 
from  kindred,  and  all  that  from  infancy  had  been  loved. 
The  foreign  slave-trade  is  infamy  unredeemed.  He  who 
sells  or  buys  a  negro  to  be  carried  from  Guinea  to  Louisiana 
is  a  pirate,  by  the  law  of  the  civilized  nations.  When  we 
catch  him  we  hang  him,  and  his  name,  being  that  of  the 
wicked,  rots.  What  is  the  difference  between  the  man  who 
sells  from  a  Guinea  barracoon  and  from  a  Virginia  planta- 
tion? What  is  the  difference  between  the  master  of  the 
slave-ship  and  the  driver  of  the  slave-caravan  ?  What  is 
the  difference  to  the  poor,  outcast  sufferer,  whether  he  is 
transported  by  sea  or  land  ?  He  is  spared  the  terrible  tor- 
tures of  the  middle  passage ;  but  the  hardships  are  extreme 
under  the  convoy  of  the  land-pirate,  and  a  large  per  centage 
of  deaths  take  place.  Compared  with  the  savage  Guinea 
native,  the  Virginia  negro  is  a  being  of  sensibility  and 
refinement.  His  domestic  affections  are  more  human.  His 
home — harsh  home  as  it  has  been — is  dearer.  How  is  it, 
that  the  nation,  so  proudly  and  talkatively  virtuous  about 
the  foreign  slave-trade,  is  so  easy  and  content  with  the 
domestic?" 


46  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

We  may  next  consider  more  particularly  the  traits  of 
character  common  to  the  African  slave-trade  and  the  pres- 
ent system  of  American  slavery. 

4.  The  present  system  of  American  slavery  reduces  free 
persons  to  slavery.  We  give,  as  instances,  the  three  follow- 
ing cases: 

(1.)  Children  are  constantly  reduced  to  slavery;  and  the 
children  of  American  slaves  are  just  as  innocent  as  the 
children  of  native  Africans.  We  maintain,  then,  that  the 
enslaving  of  children,  whether  those  of  slaves  or  of  free 
persons,  is  not  one  whit  better  than  the  enslavement  of 
Africans  by  the  slave-trade.  It  is  true,  the  mode  of 
accomplishing  it  may  be  different,  but  the  wrong  inflicted 
on  the  sufferer  is  the  same.  The  arguments  against  this 
enslaving  of  children,  whether  they  are  the  children  of 
slaves  or  others,  are  reserved  for  the  next  chapter. 

(2.)  Many  free  persons,  by  the  operation  of  the  slave 
laws,  are  reduced  to  a  state  of  slavery. 

In  consequence  of  rejecting  the  evidence  of  colored  per- 
sons, kidnapping  is  easy  and  even  common,  notwithstanding 
severe  penalties  may  be  enacted  against  it.  In  the  two 
years  previous  to  1827  more  than  thirty  free  colored  per- 
sons, mostly  children,  were  kidnapped  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  carried  away  south.  Five  of  these,  at  great 
expense  and  difficulty,  have  been  restored  to  their  friends. 
The  others  were  never  restored  to  freedom.  Thus,  man- 
stealing  is  a  branch  of  the  present  sj'stem  of  slavery. 

(3.)  Many  manumitted  persons  are  re-enslaved  by  the 
action  of  the  slave  laws. 

By  the  laws  of  several  of  the  slaveholding  states  manu- 
mitted and  other  free  persons  of  color  may  be  arrested, 
and  if  documentary  evidence  of  their  freedom  be  not  pro- 
duced, they  are  thrown  into  prison,  and  advertised  as  runa 
ways.  Should  no  one  prove  ownership,  within  a  limited 
time,  the  jailer  is  directed  to  sell  them  to  the  highest  bidder, 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  47 

in  order  to  pay  the  jail  fees.  Thus  the  freeman  and  his 
posterity  are  doomed  forever  to  hopeless  bondage. 

"FREE  NEGROES. — The  Legislature  of  Alabama  have 
passed  an  act,  prescribing,  that  every  free  person  of  color 
arriving  in  that  state,  on  board  a  vessel  as  cook,  steward, 
mariner,  or  in  any  other  employment,  shall  be  immediately 
lodged  in  prison,  and  detained  till  the  departure  of  said 
vessel,  when  the  cap  tain -thereof  shall  be  bound,  under  a 
heavy  penalty,  to  take  him  away.  If  any  free  person  of 
color,  thus  sent  away,  shall  return,  he  or  she  shall  receive 
thirty-nine  lashes ;  and  if  found  within  the  state  twenty  days 
after  such  punishment,  he  or  she  shall  be  sold  as  a  slave  for 
any  term  not  exceeding  one  year.  The  captain  of  any  vessel, 
in  which  such  free  person  of  color  shall  arrive,  shall  give 
security  in  the  sum  of  $2,000,  that  he  will  take  away  the 
said  free  person  of  color.  The  sixth  section  makes  it  lawful 
for  any  person  to  seize,  and  make  a  slave  for  life,  to  his  own 
use,  any  free  person  of  color  who  may  come  into  the  state 
of  Alabama  after  the  first  day  of  February,  1842;  provi- 
ded this  section  shall  not  take  effect  till  the  first  day  of 
August  next.  The  seventh  section  makes  it  lawful  for  any 
person  to  seize  upon  and  make  a  slave  for  life  any  free  per- 
son of  color  who  may  be  found  in  the  state  of  Alabama 
after  the  passage  of  this  act,  and  who  shall  have  come  into 
the  state  since  its  passage.  Approved  February  2,  1839." 
(Lannaman.) 

(4.)  Any  one  who  will  take  the  pains  to  examine  the  ad- 
vertisements in  the  southern  papers,  will  see  scores  of  no- 
tices which  show  that  the  process  of  enslaving  manumitted 
.persons  is  conducted  openly,  under  the  protection  and  by 
the  authority  of  law. 

Thus,  as  the  African  slave-trade  constantly  reduces  inno- 
cent free  persons  to  slavery,  and  assumes  its  piratical  and 
felonious  character  from  this  act,  so  the  system  of  Ameri- 
can slavery,  by  enslaving  the  children  of  slaves,  and  free 


48  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

persons  of  color,  and  by  re-enslaving  manumitted  persons, 
must  also  be  piratical  and  felonious  as  to  moral  character. 
The  injustice  in  the  one  case  is  as  great  as  the  other.  And 
he  or  she  who  voluntarily  enslaves  innocent  children  must 
rank  with  the  man-stealer,  and  the  trafficker  in  the  African 
slave-trade. 

5.  Slave- raising  is  a  notable  source  of  slavery,  and  is  a 
substitute  for  the  African  slave-trade. 

As  this  is  properly  rather  a  delicate  subject,  we  will  hear 
what  southern  men  themselves  have  to  say  on  it,  and  what, 
too,  they  have  said  publicly,  and  has  been  printed. 

Judge  Upshur,  in  1829,  in  the  Virginia  Convention,  said: 
"The  value  of  slaves  as  an  article  of  property  depends 
much  on  the  state  of  the  market  abroad ;  nothing  is  more 
fluctuating  than  the  value  of  slaves.  A  late  law  of  Louis- 
iana reduced  their  value  twenty-five  per  cent.  If  it  be  our 
lot,  as  I  trust  it  will  be,  to  acquire  Texas,  their  price  will 
rise  again." 

Mr.  Mercer,  in  1829,  in  the  Convention,  said  :  "The  tables 
of  the  natural  growth  of  the  slave  population  demonstrate, 
when  compared  with  the  increase  of  its  numbers  in  the 
commonwealth  for  twenty  years  past,  that  an  annual  rev- 
enue of  not  less  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars  is 
derived  from  the  exportation  of  a  part  of  the  population." 
(Debates,  p.  199.) 

Hon.  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  in  his  speech  before  the 
Colonization  Society,  in  1829,  says:  "It  is  believed  that 
no  where  in  the  farming  portion  of  the  United  States  would 
slave  labor  be  generally  employed,  if  the  proprietor  were 
not  tempted  to  raise  slaves  by  the  high  price  of  the  south- 
ern market,  which  keeps  it  up  in  his  own." 

Mr.  Gholson,  of  Virginia,  in  his  speech  in  the  Legislature 
of  that  state,  January  18,  1831,  said:  "It  has  always — per- 
haps erroneously — been  considered  by  steady  and  old-fash- 
ioned  people,  that  the  owner  of  land  had  a  reasonable  right 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  49 

to  its  annual  profits,  the  owner  of  orchards  to  their  annual 
fruits,  the  owner  of  breed  mares  to  their  product,  and  the 
owner  of  female  slaves  to  their  increase.  The  legal  maxim 
of  partus  sequitur  ventrem,  is  coeval  with  the  existence  of 
the  rights  of  property  itself,  and  is  founded  in  wisdom  and 
justice.  It  is  on  the  justice  and  inviolability  of  this  maxim 
that  the  master  foregoes  the  service  of  the  female  slave,  has 
her  nursed  and  attended  "during  the  period  of  her  gestation, 
and  raises  the  helpless  infant  offspring.  The  value  of  the 
property  justifies  the  expense;  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say, 
that  in  its  increase  consists  much  of  our  wealth." 

Hon.  J.  M.  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  in  his  speech  before 
the  Legislature,  in  1832,  said,  concerning  the  number  sold 
out  of  Virginia  to  the  more  southern  states,  "  The  exporta- 
tion has  averaged  eight  thousand  five  hundred  for  the  last 
twenty  years.  Forty  years  ago,  the  whites  exceeded  the 
colored  twenty-five  thousand ;  the  colored  now  exceed  the 
whites  eighty-one  thousand;  and  these  results,  too,  during 
an  exportation  of  near  two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
slaves  since  the  year  1790,  now  perhaps  the  fruitful  progen- 
itors of  half  a  million  in  other  states.  It  is  a  practice,  and 
an  increasing  practice,  to  rear  slaves  for  market.  How  can 
an  honorable  mind,  a  patriot,  and  a  lover  of  his  country, 
bear  to  see  this  ancient  dominion  converted  into  one  grand 
menagerie,  where  men  are  to  be  reared  for  market,  like 
oxen  for  the  shambles  ?" 

Professor  Dew,  in  his  review  of  the  debate  in  the  Vir- 
ginia Legislature,  1831-32,  says,  p.  49,  "From  all  the  in- 
formation we  can  obtain,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
upward  of  six  thousand  [slaves]  are  yearly  exported  [from 
Virginia]  to  other  states."  Again,  p.  01,  "  The  six  thousand 
slaves  which  Virginia  annually  sends  off  to  the  south  are  a 
source  of  wealth  to  Virginia."  Again,  p.  120,  "A  full 
equivalent  being  thus  left  in  the  place  of  the  slave,  this 
emigration  becomes  an  advantage  to  the  state,  and  does  not 


50  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

check  the  black  population  as  much  as,  at  first  view,  we 
might  imagine — because  it  furnishes  every  inducement  to 
the  master  to  attend  to  the  negroes,  to  encourage  breeding, 
and  to  cause  the  greatest  number  possible  to  be  raised. 
Virginia  is,  in  fact,  a  negro-raising  state  for  other  states." 

The  following  is  from  Niles'  Weekly  Register,  published 
at  Baltimore,  Md.,  vol.  35,  p.  4 :  "  Dealing  in  slaves  has  be- 
come a  large  business ;  establishments  are  made  in  several 
places  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  at  which  they  are  sold  like 
cattle ;  these  places  of  deposit  are  strongly  built,  and  well 
supplied  with  thumb-screws  and  gags,  and  ornamented  with 
cow-skins  and  other  whips,  oftentimes  bloody." 

The  editor  of  the  Virginia  Times,  published  in  Wheeling, 
in  1836,  said:  "  We  have  heard  intelligent  men  estimate  the 
number  of  slaves  exported  from  Virginia  within  the  last 
twelve  months,  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand — each 
slave  averaging  at  least  $600 — making  an  aggregate  of 
$72,000,000.  Of  the  number  of  slaves  exported,  not  more 
than  one-third  have  been  sold — the  others  having  been  car- 
ried by  their  owners,  who  have  removed — which  would  leave 
in  the  state  the  sum  of  $24,000,000  arising  from  the  sale 
of  slaves." 

The  Natchez  (Miss.)  Courier  says  "  that  the  states  of  Lou- 
isiana, Mississippi,  Alabama,  and  Arkansas,  imported  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  slaves  from  the  more  northern 
states  in  the  year  1836." 

The  Baltimore  American  gives  the  following  from  a  Mis- 
sissippi paper  of  1837:  "The  report  made  by  the  com- 
mittee of  the  citizens  of  Mobile,  appointed  at  their  meeting 
held  on  the  first  instant,  on  the  subject  of  the  existing  pe- 
cuniary pressure,  states,  among  other  things,  that  purchases 
by  Alabama  of  that  species  of  property  from  other  states, 
since  1833,  have  amounted  to  about  $10,000,000  annually." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Graham,  of  Fayetteville,  N.  C.,  at  a  coloni- 
zation meeting,  held  in  that  place  in  the  fall  of  1837,  said: 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  51 

"  He  had  resided  for  fifteen  years  in  one  of  the  largest 
slave-holding  counties  in  the  state,  had  long  and  anxiously 
considered  the  subject,  and  still  it  was  dark.  There  were 
nearly  seven  thousand  slaves  offered  in  the  New  Orleans 
market  last  winter.  From  Virginia  alone  six  thousand  were 
annually  sent  to  the  south ;  and  from  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina  there  had  gone,  in  the  same  direction,  in  the  last 
twenty  years,  three  hundred  thousand  slaves." 

The  New  Orleans  Courier,  February  15,  1839,  speaking 
of  the  prohibition  of  the  African  slave-trade,  while  the 
internal  slave-trade  is  plied,  says :  "  The  United  States  law 
may,  and  probably  does,  put  millions  into  the  pockets  of  the 
people  living  between  the  Roanoke  and  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line ;  still  we  think  it  would  require  some  casuistry,  to  show 
that  the  present  slave-trade  from  that  quarter  is  a  whit 
better  than  the  one  from  Africa."* 

In  the  grain-growing  portions  of  the  slave  states,  espe- 
cially in  the  older  states,  growing  of  slaves  seems  to  be  the 
principal  pecuniary  advantage  of  slavery.  Hence,  as  a 
natural  result  of  the  system  of  slavery,  slave-raising  has 
become  the  common  method  of  profit.  Some  affect  to  deny 
this,  as  Mr.  Stevenson,  the  American  minister,  did  in  Eng- 
land, in  1838.  But  the  fact  is  so  well  established,  and  so 
general,  that  it  can  neither  be  denied  nor  concealed,  however 
much  to  be  deplored.  Perhaps  very  few  slaveholders  make 
selection  of  their  negro  stock  for  this  vile  purpose;  yet 
there  are  some  who  do  so,  with  the  aim  of  having  the  young 
stock  of  as  light  a  skin  as  possible,  in  order  to  secure  higher 
prices.  Many,  too,  of  the  young  slaves  are  the  children  or 
grandchildren,  or  brothers  and  sisters  of  their  owners.  Add 
to  all  these  abominations,  that  the  greater  number  of  these 
are  illegitimate  children,  so  that  the  bond  of  matrimony  is 

*  Those  who  would  wish  to  see  more  such  authorities  quoted  are 
referred  to  "  American  Slavery  As  It  Is,"  by  Weld,  New  York,  1839, 
pp.  182-184. 


52  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

little  known  in  this  shameful  commerce,  and  this  accursed 
custom  of  slave-raising  is  worse  than,  or  at  least  as  bad 
as  the  African  slave-trade  itself.  And  if  it  be  not  sinful 
and  wicked,  as  well  as  shameful  and  brutal,  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  sin  in  the  world.  And  this  abominable  thing  has 
been  the  result  of  American  slavery,  and  is  now  a  compo- 
nent part  of  it,  and  inseparable  from  it.  This  most  hateful 
and  polluting  practice  is  now  become  as  notorious  as  any 
thing  else  can  be,  and  no  one  in  the  United  States,  or  in 
the  civilized  world,  can  live  without  becoming  acquainted 
with  this  outrage  on  the  decorum  of  society.  And  can 
any  Christian  who  knows  these  things  to  be  true — and  all 
such  know  it — be  content  to  live  a  day  without  endeavoring 
to  destroy  slavery,  the  parent  of  this  crying-out  sin  ? 

6.  Slave-trading  between  the  states  presents  traits  of 
character  as  bad  as  some  belonging  to  the  African  slave- 
trade,  and  common  to  both. 

Between  the  African  and  domestic  slave-trade  there  is  a 
very  strong  resemblance  in  the  manner  of  procuring  negroes 
for  market,  the  mode  of  transferring  them  to  their  destined 
places  of  designation,  and  the  manner  of  disposing  of  and 
treating  them  in  their  new  houses  of  bondage. 

The  slave-trader,  with  his  assistants,  traverses  the  coun- 
try, among  the  plantations,  and  in  the  towns,  in  search  of 
the  surplus  negroes,  and  buys  them  on  the  best  terms  he 
can.  The  small  farmer  sells  one  or  two  at  a  time,  as  his 
stock  increases.  The  slave-grower,  after  reserving  those 
suited  to  his  stock  calculations,  disposes  of  the  most  market- 
able. Executors'  and  sheriffs'  sales  are  narrowly  watched, 
and  good  bargains  are  there  obtained  very  often  for  the 
ready  cash. 

A  few  specimens  of  the  every-day  advertisements  in 
southern  papers  will  give  a  tolerably-correct  idea  of  the 
practice  followed  in  bartering,  advertising,  and  disposing  of 
slaves.  We  copy  from  southern  papers,  in  an  abridged 


AFRICAN  SLAVB-TRADE   AND  SLAVERY,  53 

form.  Mr.  P.  Bahi  has  committed  to  jail  as  a  runaway,  a 
little  negro  aged  about  seven  years.  The  Mayor  has  com- 
mitted to  jail  as  a  runaway  slave,  Jordan,  about  twelve 
years  old,  and  the  sheriff  proclaims  that  if  no  one  claims 
him  he  will  be  sold  as  a  slave  to  pay  jail  fees.  A  boy  aged 
fourteen,  another  aged  twelve,  and  a  girl  ten,  will  be  sold 
to  pay  the  debts  of  their  deceased  masters.  Negroes  for 
sale :  A  negro  woman  of  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  has 
two  children — one  eight,  and  the  other  three  years  old. 
Said  negroes  will  be  sold  separately  or  together,  as  desired. 
The  woman  is  a  good  seamstress.  She  will  be  sold  low  for 
cash,  or  exchanged  for  groceries.  Pursuant  to  a  deed  of 
trust  will  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder  for  cash,  Fanny,  aged 
about  twenty-eight  years ;  Mary,  aged  about  seven ;  Amanda, 
about  three  months  ;  Wilson,  aged  about  nine  months.  By 
executor's  sale  will  be  sold  one  negro  girl,  about  two  years 
old,  named  Rachel,  for  the  benefit  of  the  heirs  and  creditors 
of  the  estate.  Fifty  negroes  wanted  immediately,  for  which 
a  good  price  will  be  given,  of  from  ten  to  thirty  years  of 
age.  Taken  and  committed  to  jail,  a  negro  named  Nancy. 
The  owner  is  requested  to  come  forward,  prove  property, 
pay  charges,  and  take  her  away,  or  she  shall  be  sold  to  pay 
her  jail  fees.  (See  American  Slavery,  pp.  167—169.) 

The  internal  slave-trade  is  or  has  been  carried  on  from 
the  old  to  the  new  slave  states,  to  the  extent  of  upward  of 
eighty  thousand  annually.  In  three  years  ninety  thousand 
slaves  were  introduced  into  Mississippi.  In  two  or  three 
years  the  slaves  of  this  state  increased  from  sixty  thousand 
to  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand. 

When  the  traders  collect  their  purchased  slaves  they 
secure  them  in  jails  and  other  places  of  confinement,  in 
order  to  prevent  them  from  running  away.  The  great 
traders,  of  the  wholesale  class,  erect  strong  citadels  for  this 
purpose,  which  are  sometimes  called  barracoons,  where  the 
appurtenances  of  the  jail  and  penitentiary  are  provided,  in 
5* 


54  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

order  to  preserve  them  securely  for  the  market,  either  by 
retail,  or,  as  is  mostly  the  case,  till  a  gang  may  be  made  up 
of  sufficient  numbers  to  justify  the  expense  and  trouble  of 
taking  them  by  land  in  chained  gangs ;  or,  as  is  more  re- 
cently the  case,  till  enough  in  number  are  collected  to 
charter  a  vessel,  in  which  they  are  conveyed  for  the  more 
southern  market. 

The  following  is  the  description  which  the  Hon.  Mr.  Gid- 
dings,  in  his  address  in  1838,  gives  of  the  barracoons  and 
other  such  places : 

"The  purchase  and  sale  of  slaves  at  Washington  has 
become  a  regular  business.  The  country  around  is  poor, 
and  the  growing  of  slaves  has  gradually  become  a  source 
of  profit.  The  public  jail  built  with  the  money  of  the  na- 
tion, for  many  years  has  been  used  as  a  prison  for  slaves 
destined  for  sale  till  their  owners  could  dispose  of  them. 
In  this  manner  the  funds  belonging  to  the  people  of  this 
nation  are  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  slave-trade.  Besides 
the  jail  there  are  several  factories  or  private  prisons  appro- 
priated to  the  imprisonment  of  slaves.  These  factories  and 
the  public  jail  are  made  the  receptacles  of  all  the  horror 
and  unutterable  anguish  attendant  upon  the  separation  of 
parents  and  children,  husbands  and  wives,  on  being  torn 
from  home,  and  country,  and  friends,  and  doomed  to  a 
certain  death  amidst  the  miasma  of  the  southern  rice  and 
cotton  plantations.  Many  instances,  shocking  to  the  feel- 
ings of  humanity,  are  related  by  those  who  reside  there. 

"The  public  papers  that  contain  the  journal  of  the  Na- 
tional Legislature  also  contain  notices  for  the  sale  and  pur- 
chase of  slaves.  -  'SALES  AT  AUCTION,'  where  immortal 
beings  are  sold  at  public  vendue,  are  heralded  forth  in  the 
government  papers. 

"In  the  most  populous  parts  of  the  city,  on  the  most 
beautiful  avenue  of  the  metropolis,  men,  women,  and  children 
are  sold  at  public  vendue.  All  restraint  is  thrown  off.  The 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.          55 

regular  slave-trader  pursues  his  vocation,  purchases  his  cargo 
of  human  beings,  and  sends  them  to  other  states,  or  to 
Texas,  with  as  little  apparent  compunction  of  conscience 
as  he  who  follows  the  driving  of  cattle.  He  purchases  a 
license  for  $400  per  annum,  and  then  with  perfect  impunity 
follows  a  practice  Avhich,  if  pursued  on  the  African  coast, 
would  by  our  laws  constitute  piracy.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  the  crime  for  which* he  would  be  hanged,  if  committed 
in  Africa,  he  commits  here  for  the  price  of  $400  per  annum, 
and  mingles  with  the  people,  freely  enters  the  Capitol  with 
the  representatives  of  the  nation,  sits  in  the  gallery  with 
the  most  virtuous  and  respectable  citizens  of  these  United 
States.  Emboldened  by  the  fact  that  Congress  has  so  long 
shielded  and  protected  them,  they  have,  during  the  past 
winter,  driven  their  victims,  males  and  females,  chained, 
past  the  Capitol,  in  view  of  both  houses  of  Congress,  of 
foreign  ministers,  and  representatives  of  foreign  govern- 
ments, residing  at  Washington,  and  all  that  vast  concourse 
of  visitants  usually  found  at  Washington  during  the  Avinter 
sessions  of  Congress.  The  outrages  upon  the  laws  of  hu- 
manity and  upon  our  national  character  have  deeply  affected 
our  reputation  among  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth." 

BARRACOONS. — The  following  advertisement  is  copied, 
without  the  alteration  of  a  letter,  from  a  late  Richmond 
Whig.  Strange  that  slaves  should  ever  run  away  from  such 
excellent  accommodations  as  those  of  Bacon  Tait !  Perhaps 
they  do  not  relish  the  safety  and  comfort  of  being  sold. 

"Notice. — The  commodious  buildings  which  I  have 
recently  had  erected  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  are  now 
ready  for  the  accommodation  of  all  persons  who  may  wish 
their  NEGUOKS  safely  and  comfortably  taken  care  of. 

"The  buildings  were  erected  upon  an  extensive  scale, 
without  regard  to  cost,  my  main  object  being  to  insure  the 
safe-keeping,  and  at  the  same  time  the  health  and  comfort 
of  the  negroes  who  may  be  placed  thereat. 


50  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

"  The  rooms  and  yards  for  the  females  are  separate  from 
those  for  the  males,  and  genteel  house  servants  will  have 
rooms  to  themselves.  The  regulations  of  the  establishment 
will  be  general  cleanliness,  moderate  exercise,  and  recreation 
within  the  yards  during  good  weather,  and  good,  substantial 
food  at  all  times,  by  which  regulations  it  is  intended  that 
confinement  shall  be  rendered  merely  nominal,  and  the 
health  of  the  negroes  so  promoted,  that  they  will  be  well 
prepared  to  encounter  a  change  of  climate  when  removed 
to  the  south. 

"These  buildings  are  situated  on  the  lot  corner  of  15th 
and  Cary  streets,  between  Mayo's  bridge  and  the  Bell  Tav- 
ern. Apply  to  BACON  TAIT." 

The  mode  of  transferring  the  slaves  by  land,  by  the 
slave-dealers,  is  usually  in  gangs. 

It  was  our  misfortune  to  witness,  in  the  spring  of  1828, 
in  Uniontown,  Pa.,  where  we  then  resided,  two  of  these 
gangs.  They  were  not,  however,  the  gangs  of  the  great 
traders.  They  were  only  the  company  composed  of  the 
slaves  of  one  or  two  white  families,  who,  with  their  slaves, 
were  moving  to  the  south-west ;  and  hence  these  were  speci- 
mens of  the  most  favorable  description.  Each  gang  con- 
sisted of  between  fifty  and  one  hundred,  of  all  ages.  Two 
or  more  carriages,  with  the  white  families,  moved  in  front. 
After  them  one  or  two  wagons,  carrying  negro  children  and 
their  mothers,  continued  the  line.  Many  colored  boys  and 
girls  were  walking  along  side  the  line.  Behind  came  a  large 
six-horse  team  with  a  strong  chain  attached  to  the  hind  part 
of  the  wagon.  On  each  side  of  the  chain  was  a  line  of 
negro  men,  with  their  coffle  chains  attached  to  this  large 
chain.  The  row  on  the  left  of  the  great  chain  were  attached 
to  it  by  fastenings  connected  with  the  handcuffs  on  their 
right  hands,  while  the  row  on  the  right  were  connected  with 
the  chain  by  their  left  hands.  These  chained  ranks  followed 
the  loaded  wagon,  walking  in  the  deep  mud  through  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  57 

streets  of  Uniontown.  Several  armed  white  persons  walked 
along  side,  or  rode  on  horseback,  having  a  good  look-out  to 
see  that  none  Avould  escape.  Such  sights  we  never  saw 
before  or  since,  and  we  trust  it  may  never  be  our  lot  to  see 
such  again.  But  these  were  merely  the  domestic,  not  the 
trading  gangs. 

In  1817  James  K.  Paulding,  Esq.,  since  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  who  published  "  Letters  from  the  South,"  written 
during  an  excursion  in  1816,  gives  the  following  description 
of  the  doings  of  a  negro-dealer,  who  seems  to  have  been  a 
small  peddler  in  human  traffic,  yet  useful  in  making  -up  the 
larger  gangs : 

"  The  sun  was  shining  out  very  hot,  and  in  turning  the 
angle  of  the  road  we  encountered  the  following  group: 
first,  a  little  cart  drawn  by  one  horse,  in  which  five  or  six 
half-naked  black  children  were  tumbled  like  pigs  together. 
The  cart  had  no  covering,  and  they  seemed  to  have  been 
broiled  to  sleep.  Behind  the  cart  marched  three  black 
women,  with  head,  neck,  and  breasts  uncovered,  and  with- 
out shoes  or  stockings.  Next  came  three  men,  bareheaded, 
and  cfiained  together  with  an  ox-chain.  Last  of  all,  came  a 
white  man  on  horseback,  carrying  his  pistols  in  his  belt,  and 
who,  as  we  passed  him,  had  the  impudence  to  look  us  in  the 
face  without  blushing.  At  a  house  where  we  stopped  a  little 
further  on,  we  learned  that  he  had  bought  these  miserable 
beings  in  Maryland,  and  was  marching  them  in  this  manner 
to  one  of  the  more  southern  states.  Shame  on  the  state 
of  Maryland !  and  I  say,  shame  on  the  state  of  Virginia ! 
and  every  state  through  which  this  wretched  cavalcade  was 
permitted  to  pass!  I  do  say,  that  when  they — the  slave- 
holders— permit  such  flagrant  and  indecent  outrages  upon 
humanity  as  that  I  have  described ;  when  they  sanction  a 
villain  in  thus  marching  half-naked  men  and  women,  loaded 
with  chains,  without  being  charged  with  any  crime  but  that 
of  being  black,  from  one  section  of  the  United  States  to 


58  MOKAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

another,  hundreds  of  miles  in  the  face  of  day,  they  disgrace 
themselves,  and  the  country  to  which  they  belong." 

The  following  description  of  a  gang  of  slaves,  on  a  pretty 
large  scale,  is  a  just  picture  of  the  revolting  spectacle : 

"Just  as  we  reached  New  river,  in  the  early  gray  of  the 
morning,  we  came  upon  a  singular  spectacle,  the  most  strik- 
ing one  of  the  kind  I  have  ever  witnessed.  It  was  a  camp 
of  negro  slave-drivers,  just  packing  up  to  start.  They  had 
about  three  hundred  slaves  with  them,  who  had  bivouacked 
the  preceding  night  in  chains  in  the  woods.  These  they  were 
conducting  to  Natchez,  upon  the  Mississippi  river,  to  work 
upon  the  sugar  plantations  in  Louisiana.  It  resembled  one 
of  those  coffles  of  slaves  spoken  of  by  Mungo  Park,  except 
that  they  had  a  caravan  of  nine  wagons  and  single-horse 
carriages,  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  the  white  people, 
and  any  of  the  blacks  that  should  fall  lame,  to  which  they 
were  now  putting  the  horses  to  pursue  their  march.  The 
female  slaves  were,  some  of  them,  sitting  on  logs  of  wood, 
while  others  were  standing,  and  a  great  many  little  black 
children  were  warming  themselves  at  the  fires  of  the  bivouac. 
In  front  of  them  all,  and  prepared  for  the  march,  stood,  in 
double  files,  about  two  hundred  male  slaves,  manacled,  and 
c/iained  to  each  other.  I  had  never  seen  so  revolting  a  sight 
before!  Black  men  in  fetters,  torn  from  the  lands  where 
they  were  born,  from  the  ties  they  had  formed,  and  from 
the  comparatively  easy  condition  which  agricultural  labor 
affords,  and  driven  by  white  men,  with  liberty  and  equality 
in  their  mouths,  to  a  distant  and  unhealthy  country,  to 
perish  in  the  sugar-mills  of  Louisiana,  where  the  duration 
of  life  for  a  sugar-mill  slave  does  not  exceed  seven  years ! 
To  make  this  spectacle  still  more  disgusting  and  hideous, 
some  of  the  principal  white  slave-drivers,  who  were  toler- 
ably well  dressed,  and  had  broad-brimmed  white  hats  on, 
with  black  crape  round  them,  were  standing  near,  laughing, 
and  smoking  cigars. 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  59 

"  Whether  these  sentimental  speculators  were  or  were  not, 
in  accordance  with  the  language  of  the  American  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  in  mourning  for  a  'decent  respect  for 
the  opinions  of  mankind,'  or  for  their  own  callous,  inhuman 
lives,  I  could  not  but  be  struck  with  the  monstrous  ab- 
surdity of  such  fellows  putting  on  any  symbol  of  sorrow, 
while  engaged  in  the  exercise  of  such  a  horrid  trade;  so, 
wishing  them  in  my  heart  all  manner  of  evil  to  endure  as 
long  as  there  was  a  bit  of  crape  to  be  obtained,  we  drove  on, 
and,  having  forded  the  river  in  a  flat-bottomed  boat,  drew 
up  on  the  road,  where  I  persuaded  the  driver  to  wait  till 
we  had  witnessed  the  crossing  of  the  river  by  the  'gang,' 
as  it  was  called. 

"It  was  an  interesting,  but  a  melancholy  spectacle,  to 
see  them  effect  the  passage  of  the  river:  first,  a  man  on 
horseback  selected  a  shallow  place  in  the  ford  for  the  male 
slaves ;  then  followed  a  wagon  and  four  horses,  attended  by 
another  man  on  horseback.  The  other  wagons  contained 
the  children  and  some  that  were  lame,  while  the  scows,  or 
flat-boats,  carried  over  the  women  and  some  of  the  people 
belonging  to  the  caravan.  There  was  much  method  and 
vigilance  observed,  for  this  was  one  of  those  situations 
where  the  gangs,  always  watchful  to  obtain  their  liberty, 
often  show  a  disposition  to  mutiny,  knowing  that  if  one  or 
two  of  them  could  wrench  their  manacles  off,  they  could 
soon  free  the  rest,  and  either  disperse  themselves  or  over- 
power and  slay  their  sordid  keepers,  and  fly  to  the  free 
states. 

"  The  slave-drivers,  aware  of  this  disposition  in  the  unfor- 
tunate negroes,  endeavor  to  mitigate  their  discontent  by 
feeding  them  well  on  the  march,  and  by  encouraging  them 
to  sing  'Old  Virginia  never  tire,'  to  the  banjo. 

"The  poor  negro  slave  is  naturally  a  cheerful,  laughing 
creature,  and,  even  when  driven  through  the  wilderness  in 
chains,  if  he  is  well  fed  and  kindly  treated,  is  seldom  melan- 


60  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

choly;  for  his  thoughts  have  not  been  taught  to  stray  to 
the  future;  and  his  condition  is  so  degraded,  that  if  the  food 
and  warmth  his  desires  are  limited  to  are  secured  to  him, 
he  is  singularly  docile.  It  is  only  when  he  is  ill-treated  and 
roused  to  desperation,  that  his  vindictive  and  savage  nature 
breaks  out.  But  these  gangs  are  accompanied  by  other 
negroes  trained  by  the  slave-dealers  to  drive  the  rest,  whom 
they  amuse  by  lively  stories,  boasting  of  the  fine,  warm 
climate  they  are  going  to,  and  of  the  oranges  and  sugar 
which  are  there  to  be  had  for  nothing. 

"In  proportion  as  they  recede  from  the  free  states,  the 
danger  of  revolt  diminishes;  for,  in  the  southern  slave 
states  all  men  have  an  interest  in  protecting  this  infernal 
trade  of  slave-driving,  which,  to  the  negro,  is  a  greater 
curse  than  slavery  itself,  since  it  too  often  dissevers  forever 
those  affecting  natural  ties  which  even  a  slave  can  form,  by 
tearing,  without  an  instant's  notice,  the  husband  from  the 
wife,  and  the  children  from  their  parents — sending  the  one 
to  the  sugar  plantations  of  Louisiana,  another  to  the  cotton 
lands  of  Arkansas,  and  the  rest  to  Texas."  (Featherston- 
haugh's  Travels  in  America  in  1834-35,  pp.  36,  37.  New 
York:  Harper  &  Brothers.  1844.) 

But  the  practice  of  driving  gangs  of  slaves  through  the 
country  to  the  southern  market  has  been,  to  a  great  extent, 
discontinued,  on  account  of  the  dangers  and  inconveniences 
to  which  it  is  liable.  For  the  drivers  have  frequently  been 
overpowered  by  the  negroes,  and  great  loss  of  property 
was  thus  incurred  by  their  escape.  Hence,  these  specula- 
tors in  men  have  turned  their  attention  to  the  expediency 
of  collecting  their  gangs  in  some  seaport  of  a  slaveholdino 
state,  and  thus  conveying  them  in  ships  or  steamboats  tc 
the  great  southern  markets,  both  as  the  cheapest  and  safest 
way  of  conveying  them.  This  scheme,  however,  introduces 
the  domestic  slave-trade  of  the  United  States  upon  the 
great  highway  of  nations.  In  the  case  of  the  Creole,  a 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  61 

slave-transporting  vessel,  the  cargo  of  slaves  overpowered 
their  keepers  while  on  the  voyage,  and  took  refuge  in  a 
British  dependency.  Although  they  were  claimed  as  prop- 
erty, the  legality  of  the  claim  was  denied,  and  the  denial 
had  to  be  submitted  to.  Tfiere  seems  to  be  no  distinction, 
in  the  eye  of  humanity,  between  chaining  and  transporting 
slaves  by  land  or  by  sea;  and  to  give  countenance  of  pro- 
tection to  slave-traders  on  the  high  seas,  would  be  virtually 
giving  countenance  to  the  slave-trade. 

Besides,  in  this  traffic,  not  only  between  the  states,  but, 
also,  in  every  neighborhood  where  slavery  exists,  the  system 
of  slavery  pays  no  regard  to  domestic  ties.  Husbands  and 
wives  are  separated,  parents  and  children,  and  other  rela- 
tives, are  severed,  with  unsparing  cruelty.  It  is  true  that 
many  individuals,  from  honest,  conscientious  motives,  would 
not  willingly,  at  any  price,  separate  relatives,  or  even  dis- 
pose of  their  slaves,  except  according  to  their  desire.  But 
this  act  of  humanity  and  of  religion  is  not  learned  from 
slavery,  but  is  a  direct  revolt  against  the  system.  Yet  the 
system  of  slavery,  as  established  by  law,  and  sustained  by 
the  courts,  knows  nothing  of  this  humanity.  Sheriffs,  ex- 
ecutors, and  other  officers,  under  the  strong  protection  of 
constitutions,  laws,  and  judicial  decisions,  break  in  on  all 
the  endearing  relations  of  life  without  pity,  and  without 
respect  to  such  ties. 

The  Rev.  James  O'Kelly,  in  a  very  able  "Essay  on  Ne- 
gro Slavery,  published,  Philadelphia,  1789,"  pp.  35,  duo- 
decimo, gives  the  following  cases  which  came  under  his  own 
observation :  (See  pp.  8  and  9  of  the  Essay.) 

"On  the  Lord's  day,"  says  Mr.  O'Kelly,  "in  the  evening, 
as  I  was  walking  and  meditating,  I  saw  a  man-slave  sitting 
alone,  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  who  appeared  to  be  in 
deep  distress.  I  drew  near  to  him,  and  asked  the  cause  of 
his  trouble.  With  a  deep  sigh,  he  gave  me  the  substance  of 
the  following  relation :  '  My  dear  wife,  and  all  my  children, 
C 


02  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

are  removed  far  from  me  toward  the  south,  and  I  shall  see 
them  no  more.  And  what  has  augmented  my  pain,  is  a 
verbal  message  to  me  from  her,  to  love  her  till  I  die  as  she 
would  me,  and  that  she  never  would  have  another  man. 
Formerly  I  was  much  engaged  for  the  salvation  of  my 
soul ;  but  now  I  think  I  shall  be  overcome,  so  as  to  destroy 
body  and  soul  together.' 

"A  woman-slave,  in  Charlotte  county,  Virginia,  whose 
husband  was  removed  to  Georgia,  so  regretted  his  loss,  that, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  kind  providence  of  the  Almighty, 
through  the  activity  of  her  young  mistress,  she  would  have 
ended  her  wretched  life  with  a  halter. 

"A  poor  slave,  a  few  months  past,  lost  his  wife  and 
children,  who  were  sold  as  so  many  cattle,  to  discharge  a 
debt.  He  pined  away  to  a  mere  skeleton,  and  gave  up  the 
ghost.  O  husbands,  who  have  tender  wives  and  precious 
children,  can  you  acqiiiesce  with  a  law  that  tolerates  a  prac- 
tice so  inhuman,  which  enslaves  human  creatures  who  have 
as  much  right  to  their  natural  liberty  as  to  the  common  air  ? 
You  are  constrained  inwardly  to  acknowledge  '  'tis  not  alto- 
gether just  and  equitable,  but  necessity  calls,  and  it  must 
be  so  now.  I  wish  they  had  never  been  brought  here,  but 
I  see  no  better  way  for  them  at  present.'  On  this  misera- 
ble excuse  the  slaveholder  sets  his  foot. 

"  I  saw  a  slave  near  New  river,  who  was  lamenting  the 
loss  of  a  wife  and  seven  children,  who  were  then  on  their 
way  to  Soutk  Carolina.  His  grief  appeared  to  me  to  be 
intolerable,  too  heavy  to  be  berne  without  Divine  assistance, 
which,  I  trust,  he  had.  An  addition  to  his  grief  was,  a 
message  he  had  received  of  her  sorrow  on  the  road,  that  it 
was  so^reat  that  they  were  obliged  to  carry  her  in  a  wagon. 
I  endeavored  to  comfort  him  with  the  pleasures  of  the 
other  world  and  religion.  Now,  reader,  put  thy  soul — only 
by  reflection — in  his  soul's  place,  and  try  the  enormous 
weight." 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TUADE  AND  SLAVERY.  63 

Read,  also,  the  following  extract: 

"Brothers  and  sisters,  parents  and  children,  husbands 
and  wives,  are  torn  asunder,  and  permitted  to  see  each 
other  nojBQEet-  These  acts  are  daily  occurring  in  the  midst 
of  _us.  The  shrieks  and  the  agony,  often  witnessed  on  such 
occasions,  proclaim,  with  a  trumpet  tongue,  the  iniquity  of 
our  system.  There  is  not  a  neighborhood  where  these 
heart-rending  scenes  are,  not  displayed.  There  is  not  a  vil- 
lage or  road  that  does  not  behold  the  sad  procession  of 
manacled  outcasts,  whose  mournful  countenances  tell  that 
they  are  exiled  by  force  from  all  that  their  hearts  hold 
dear."  (Address  of  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  1835,  p.  12.) 

7.  The  present  slave  system  has  atrocities  equal  or  sim- 
ilar to  those  of  the  African  slave-trade ;  and,  therefore,  a 
similar  condemnation  must  rest  on  it. 

The  arguments  which  have  been  urged  against  the  Afri- 
can slave-trade,  are,  with  little  variation,  applicable  to  the 
system  of  American  slavery.  Among  the  many  instances 
that  may  be  given,  we  produce  the  following : 

(1.)  He  who  voluntarily  holds  a  slave,  as  such,  continues 
to  deprive  him  of  that  liberty  which  was  taken  from  him 
on  the  coast  of  Africa.  And  if  it  was  wrong  to  deprive 
him  of  it  in  the  first  instance,  it  must,  also,  be  wrong  in  the 
second.  And,  hence,  no  man  has  a  better  right  to  retain  a 
negro  in  slavery,  than  he  had  to  take  him  as  a  slave  from 
his  native  Africa.  And  every  man  who  can  not  show  that 
his  slave  has,  by  his  voluntary  conduct,  forfeited  his  liberty, 
is  obliged  to  manumit  him,  if  it  be  in  his  power. 

(2.)  The  mere  act  of  removing  the  Africans  from  their 
native  country,  is  not  that  in  which  the  sin  of  man-stealing 
principally  consists;  but  it  lies  in  roootng  or  depriving  them 
of  their  liberty,  Labor,  time,  and  natural  rights.  If,  then, 
the  sin  of  man-stealing  lies  in  robbing  men  of  these,  it  is 
impossible  that  another,  either  by  inheritance  or  purchase, 
can  continue  the  same  robbery  and  be  innocent. 


G4  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

(3.)  The  motive  in  the  African  trader  and  the  genuine 
slaveholder  in  America  is  the  same ;  namely,  to  derive  ad- 
vantage from  the  transaction.  The  object  of  the  African 
trader  is,  to  obtain  the  time,  liberty,  labor,  and  natural 
rights  of  the  slave,  in  order  to  make  these  serve  his  worldly 
interest.  The  man  who  pays  his  money  for  a  slave,  pays  it 
for  a  power  to  do  the  same  thing.  It  is  true  our  slave- 
holder pays  his  money  for  the  slave;  and  the  man-stealer 
was  also  at  some  expense  to  obtain  the  slave ;  for  he  spent 
his  time  and  risked  his  life,  which  are  as  valuable  as  money. 

(4.)  The  first  act  of  stealing  the  man,  and  the  second  act 
of  holding  him  in  bondage,  are  equally  criminal. 

The  first  act  implied  double  robbery ;  for  it  was  a  violent 
separation  of  husbands  from  their  wives,  and  children  from 
their  parents;  so  that  it  implied  double  robbery,  although 
the  same  transaction;  because,  in  all  cases  where  the  hus- 
band is  taken  from  the  wife,  the  wife  is  taken  from  the 
husband.  The  same  holds  true  of  the  parents  and  children. 

But  common  slaveholding  implies  the  same  double  rob- 
bery. If  a  husband  is  purchased,  and  removed  from  his 
wife  and  children,  he  is  then  robbed  from  them,  and  his 
wife  and  children  are  equally  robbed  from  him.  The  same 
holds  true  of  other  separations  of  near  relatives.  Let  the 
crime,  then,  of  man-stealing  in  the  first  instance  be  com- 
pared with  common  slaveholding,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
the  crime  of  stealing  men  from  Africa,  and  holding  them  in 
slavery  in  America,  are  essentially  the  same,  and-  of  equal 
aggravation.  Their  removal  from  their  place  of  nativity  in 
Africa,  is  no  worse  than  their  removal  in  America  from  their 
places  of  nativity,  which  is  constantly  done  by  slaveholders. 

(5.)  The  common  slaveholder  is  much  more  criminal  than 
the  first  man-thief.  The  first  thief  or  robber  steals  or  robs 
and  sells  only  the  first  generation,  but  obliges  no  purchaser 
to  steal  or  rob  their  children.  Yet  slaveholders,  in  America, 
steal  every  child  as  soon  as  it  is  born,  and  entail  the  samo 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  65 

theft  upon  their  posterity  to  all  generations,  and  the  same 
bondage  on  the  slaves  and  their  children  to  the  end  of 
time. 

To  maintain  that  long  habit  or  custom  has  a  power  of 
turning  the  most  atrocious  wickedness  into  virtue;  or  that 
the  most  atrocious  wickedness,  by  a  transfer  of  the  power 
of  committing  it,  will  turn  into  virtue;  or  that  this  change 
is  justly  made  by  the  sanction  of  civil  authority — all,  or 
any  one  of  these  three,  are  supremely  absurd. 

(6.)  The  injury  of  the  slave  system  is  more  than  common 
theft  or  robbery.  For,  because  liberty  is  more  valuable 
than  property ;  and  that  it  is  a  greater  sin  to  deprive  a  man 
of  his  whole  liberty  during  life,  than  to  deprive  him  of  his 
whole  property;  or  that  man-stealing  is  a  greater  crime 
than  robbery.  For,  to  hold  a  man  in  slavery  who  was 
stolen,  is  substantially  the  same  crime  as  to  steffl  him. 
Hence,  to  hold  a  human  being  in  slavery  is  a  greater  crime 
than  theft  or  robbery. 

(7.)  It  is  a  greater  sin,  in  the  sight  of  God,  to  enslave 
men,  than  it  is  to  be  guilty  of  concubinage  or  fornication. 
Because,  to  commit  theft  or  robbery  every  day  of  a  man's 
life,  is  as  great  a  sin  as  to  commit  fornication  in  one  instance. 

But,  JH  stpa.1    fl.   man,  r>r  rnh  fr™  "f  ^   IJnprjgJ^  ft  ^TPtvtT 

sin  than  to  steal  his  property,  or  to  take  it  by  violence. 
And  to  hold  a  man  in  slavery  who  has  a  right  to  his  liberty, 
is  to  be  everyoay  roDDing  him  of  his  liberty,  or  to  ~6e 
gujTty  uf  filaTHstealing.  The  consequence  is  plain,  other 
things  being  equal,  that  to  hold  a  slave  is  a  greater  sia,  in 
the  sight  of  God,  than  concubinage  or  adultery. 

(8.)  The  question  is  clearly  decided  by  the  Bible:  "He 
that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in 
his  hand,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death,"  Exodus  xxi, 
16.  Thus,  death  is  the  punishment  awarded  to  the  man- 
stealer,  or  to  him  that  now  holds  the  stolen  person.  Now, 
to  hold  a  man  in  slavery  who  has  a  right  to  liberty,  is  sub- 


66  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

stanfially  the  same  crime  with  depriving  him  of  liberty. 
And  to  deprive  of  liberty,  and  reduce  to  slavery,  a  man 
who  has  a  right  to  liberty,  is  man-stealing;  for  it  is  im- 
material whether  he  be  taken  or  reduced  to  slavery  clan- 
destinely or  by  open  violence. 

(9.)  American  slavery  has  been  the  great  receiver,  the 
ally,  and  the  supporter  of  the  African  slave-trade.  Even 
after  the  horrors  of  the  African  trade,  and  its  system, 
have  been  pronounced  piracy,  so  close  was  the  connection 
between  the  two  systems  that  the  African  trade  continued, 
and  yet  continues.  Multitudes  are  now  kidnapped  in  Africa 
and  introduced  into  the  United  States,  and  "broken  in,"  in 
the  southern  plantations.  The  number  thus  introduced  has 
been  variously  calculated  by  speakers  in  Congress,  but 
never  lower  than  thirteen  thousand  per  annum,  besides  the 
multitudes  smuggled  into  Texas  from  Cuba,  or  openly 
received  in  some  instances,  as  has  been  stated,  in  utter  con- 
tempt of  law. 

(10.)  Thus^slavery  is  only^a_continuatipn  of  kidnapping. 
The  one  is  the  other  continued.  The  purchaser  from  the 
kidnapper  purchases  a  kidnapper's  title.  He  buys  the 
privilege  of  continuing  upon  the  person  of  the  slave,  the 
same  criminal  violence  and  wrong  which  were  commenced 
in  Africa.  Hence,  if  slavery  be  not  sinful,  kidnapping,  and 
the  whole  system  of  the  African  slave-trade,  is  right;  a 
consequence  so  absurd  that  no  man  can  admit  it. 

(11.)  There  are  several  particulars  in  which  the  equality 
of  atrocity  may  be  traced  in  the  slave-trade  and  our  own 
slavery. 

First.  In  the  number  of  victims  of  both  it  will  be  difficult, 
perhaps,  to  decide  whether  the  African  traffic  or  our  own 
domestic  institution  may  justly  claim  the  bad  pre-eminence 
of  enslaving  the  greater  number  of  human  beings.  From 
1700  to  1786  the  number  of  slaves  imported  by  Britain 
into  Jamaica  alone  was  six  hundred  and  ten  thousand,  or 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  67 

about  seven  thousand  annually.  The  total  number  imported 
into  all  the  British  colonies,  from  1680  to  1786,  a  space  of 
one  hundred  and  six  years,  was  about  two  million,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  thousand,  making  the  annual  imports  to  be 
twenty-one  thousand  or  twenty-two  thousand.  Wilberforce, 
in  1788,  reckoned  that  thirty-eight  thousand  were  annually 
taken  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  on  British  vessels  alone. 
In  1847  the  slaves  carried  from  Africa  into  Brazil  alone 
amounted  to  eighty -four  thousand,  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
six;  while  the  total  increase  of  the  colored  population  of 
the  United  States,  from  1830  to  1840 — ten  years — bond 
and  free,  was  only  fifty-four  thousand,  three  hundred  and 
fifty-six.  It  is  now  calculated,  that  about  four  hundred 
thousand  are  made  victims  of  the  slave-trade  annually. 
About  one  half  of  these  perish  in  the  capture,  transporta- 
tion, and  seasoning ;  and  the  other  half,  or  two  hundred 
thousand,  are  sold  in  the  various  slave  countries. 

About  eighty  thousand  slaves,  when  the  trade  was  brisk, 
were  annually  transported,  in  the  United  States,  from  the 
old  to  the  new  slave  states.  At  present  it  is  calculated, 
that  only  about  forty  thousand  are  transferred  annually,  in 
the  domestic  slave-trade  of  the  country ;  and  although  there 
may  be  considerable  difference  between  the  number  of 
victims,  in  the  two  trades,  the  identity  of  moral  turpitude 
can  not  be  questioned. 

Second.  The  horrors  of  both  systems  are  identical  in 
nature,  if  not  in  extent  or  degree.  The  capture,  the  middle 
passage,  and  the  seasoning  of  the  African  trade  have  their 
corresponding  atrocities  in  the  sales  of  the  slave-growers  to 
the  small  negro-trader  and  the  barracoon  gentlemen.  The 
gangs  of  handcuffed  slaves  and  the  shipped  gangs  to  New 
Orleans  are  sufficiently-good  imitations  of  the  middle  pas- 
sage, with  its  murders  and  low  brutality ;  and  though  the 
scavenger  trader  is  despised  by  his  principal  and  employer — 
the  slave-grower — the  trader  seems  to  be  the  more  honora- 


68  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

ble  man,  as  he  rarely  sells  his  own  children  or  grandchil- 
dren, an  alleviation  of  guilt  which  can  not  be  claimed  by 
many  of  the  growers  of  slaves.  And,  then,  the  seasoning 
of  the  African  business  is  certainly,  in  atrocity,  behind  the 
seasoning  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Kentucky  negroes,  in 
the  cotton,  rice,  and  sugar  plantations  of  the  far  south. 
But,  then,  the  African  commerce  is  outdone  by  our 
home  business,  when  the  seasoning  has  done  its  work  of 
cruelty  and  death.  The  African  dealer  in  flesh  finishes  his 
work,  when  he  sells  his  chained  victims ;  but  the  American 
slaveholder  then  just  begins  his,  and  deliberately,  and 
according  to  law,  extends  the  wrong  to  the  end  of  life  and 
to  all  generations,  by  new  and  successive  acts  of  robbery, 
in  the  enslavement  of  every  child  as  soon  as  born.  The 
following  is  an  exemplification  of  this : 

"  I  shall  never  forget  a  scene  which  took  place  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  while  I  was  in  slavery.  A  man  and  his 
wife,  both  slaves,  were  brought  from  the  country  to  the  city 
for  sale.  They  were  taken  to  the  rooms  of  AUSTIN  <fc 
SAVAGE,  auctioneers.  Several  slave  speculators,  who  are 
always  to  be  found  at  auctions  where  slaves  are  to  be  sold, 
were  present.  The  man  was  first  put  up,  and  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder.  The  wife  was  next  ordered  to  ascend  the 
platform.  I  was  present.  She  slowly  obeyed  the  order. 
The  auctioneer  commenced,  and  soon  several  hundred  dol- 
lars were  bid.  My  eyes  were  intensely  fixed  on  the  face  of 
the  woman,  whose  cheeks  were  wet  with  tears.  But  a  con- 
versation between  the  slave  and  his  new  master  attracted 
my  attention.  I  drew  near  them  to  listen.  The  slave  was 
begging  his  new  master  to  purchase  his  wife.  Said  he, 
'Master,  if  you  will  only  buy  Fanny  I  know  you  will  get 
the  worth  of  your  money.  She  is  a  good  cook,  a  good 
washer,  and  her  last  mistress  liked  her  very  much.  If  you 
will  only  buy  her,  how  happy  I  will  be !'  The  new  master 
replied  that  he  did  not  want  her,  but,  if  she  sold  cheap,  he 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  69 

would  purchase  her.  I  watched  the  countenance  of  the 
man  while  the  different  persons  were  bidding  on  his  wife. 
When  his  new  master  bid  on  his  wife,  you  could  see  the 
smile  on  his  countenance,  and  the  tears  stop;  but  as  soon 
as  another  would,  you  could  see  the  countenance  change, 
and  the  tears  start  afresh.  From  this  change  of  counte- 
nance one  could  see  the  workings  of  the  inmost  soul.  But 
this  suspense  did  not  last  long.  The  wife  was  struck  off  to 
the  highest  bidder,  who  proved  to  be  not  the  owner  of  her 
husband.  As  soon  as  they  became  aware  that  they  were 
to  be  separated,  they  both  burst  into  tears;  and  as  she 
descended  from  the  auction  stand,  the  husband,  walking  up 
to  her  and  taking  her  by  the  hand,  said,  'Well,  Fanny,  we 
are  to  part  forever  on  earth.  You  have  been  a  good  wife 
to  me.  I  did  all  that  I  could  to  get  my  new  master  to  buy 
you;  but  he  did  not  want  you;  and  all  I  have  to  say  is, 
I  hope  you  will  try  to  meet  me  in  heaven.  I  shall  try  to 
meet  you  there.'  The  wife  made  no  reply ;  but  her  sobs 
and  cries  told  too  well  her  own  feelings.  I  saw  the  coun- 
tenances of  a  number  of  whites  who  were  present,  and 
whose  eyes  were  dimmed  with  tears,  at  hearing  the  man 
bid  his  wife  farewell.  Such  are  but  common  occurrences 
in  the  slave  states."  (Narrative  of  the  Life  of  William 
Brown,  pp.  110-112.) 

Third.  The  profits  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade  form 
a  common  element  of  identity  between  the  slave-trade  and 
its  parent,  or,  as  some  would  have  it,  the  child — American 
slavery.  For  gain  men  engage  in  the  slave-trade,  and  for 
gain  men  hold  slaves.  It  is  true,  that  envy,  hatred,  and 
murder  may,  and  often  do,  precede  the  element  of  gain,  as 
in  the  case  of  Joseph's  brethren,  who  envied  him,  then 
hated  him,  and  then  determined  to  kill  him;  but  as  the 
twenty  pieces  of  silver  were  greater  gain  than  to  merely 
kill  him,  they  commuted  murder  for  gain;  and  unless 
slavery  will  pay,  who  would  be  slaveholders? 


70  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

As  a  specimen  of  profit,  take  the  following:  The  brig 
Cygnet,  in  1847,  was  seized  by  a  British  cruiser,  having 
five  hundred  and  fifty-six  slaves  on  board,  and  taken  to 
Sierra  Leone.  Allowing  the  deaths  to  be  one-third,  which 
is  less  than  an  average,  the  captain,  who  was  to  have  had 
$60  per  head  for  freight,  would  have  realized  a  clear  profit 
of  $20,000,  for  a  passage  of  from  twenty  to  twenty-six 
days  from  Gallinas  to  Brazil.  The  profit  to  Don  Luizo,  the 
owner,  would  be  $55,000,  or  the  two-thirds,  had  the  ship 
not  been  taken. 

"  On  the  coast  of  Africa,  negroes  are  usually  paid  for  in 
money.  Sometimes  in  lozendas,  coarse  cottons,  at  a  cost  of 
about  $18  for  men,  $12  for  boys.  At  Rio  Janeiro,  their 
value  may  be  estimated  at  500  millreas,  or  £50,  for  men,  400 
millreas,  or  £41  10s.,  for  women,  300  millreas,  or  £31,  for 
boys.  Thus,  on  a  cargo  of  five  hundred,  at  the  mean  price, 
the  profit  will  exceed  £19,000.  Cost  price  of  five  hundred, 
at  $15,  or  £3  5s.  each,  £1,625.  Selling  price  at  Rio  of 
five  hundred,  at  £41  10s.  each,  £20,750."  (Forty  Days 
on  board  a  Slaver.) 

The  profits  on  four  vessels  would  not  subject  them  to 
loss  provided  the  fifth  escaped.  Manael  Pinto  da  Fonseca 
publicly  declared,  that  his  profits  on  the  African  trade,  in 
1844,  were  1,300,000,000  reas,  or  about  $1,625,000.  A 
profit  of  two  hundred  per  cent.,  and  often  much  over,  is 
common  in  the  trade  even  now. 

Fourth.  The  mortality,  too,  or  waste  of  human  life,  in  the 
two  systems,  forms  a  common  characteristic.  The  greater 
part  of  the  horrors  of  the  domestic  slave-trade  has  not 
been  recorded  on  earth.  Under  the  age  of  1 0  we  have  not 
accurate  data  on  which  to  proceed.  I  find,  by  comparing 
the  ages  of  slaves  with  those  of  the  free  people  of  color, 
that  between  10  and  24  there  should  be  665,875  slaves, 
whereas  there  are  but  620,827,  showing  a  deficiency  of 
45,048.  Between  24  and  36,  the  working  age,  there  should 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  71 

be  439,389;  there  are  but  370,330  slaves,  making  a  de- 
ficiency of  09,059.  Between  the  age  of  36  and  55,  when 
decay  begins  to  affect  the  slave,  there  should  be  340,161 ; 
there  are  only  229,787,  making  a  waste  of  110,374.  Over 
55  years  of  age  there  ought  to  be  186,797;  there  are  but 
83,736,  raising  the  loss  to  103,061.  The  total  deficiency, 
therefore,  arising  from  this  waste  of  life,  is  327,541,  pre- 
maturely worn  out  and  killed  on  the  cotton  and  sugar 
plantations  in  the  south  for  10  years. 

Taking  the  census  of  1840,  and  following  the  same 
standard — the  number  of  the  free  people  of  color — there 
ought  to  be  829,698  slaves  between  the  ages  of  10  and 
and  24 ;  there  are  but  781,206,  making  a  deficiency  of 
48,492.  Between  24  and  36  there  should  be  586,107; 
there  are  but  475,160;  deficiency,  110,947.  From  36  to 
55  the  proper  number  is  444,376  ;  actual  number  284,465 ; 
deficiency,  159,911,  or  about  36  per  cent.  The  total  de- 
ficiency in  10  years  is  319,350.  There  are  not  half  as  many 
slaves  over  55,  and  only  two-thirds  as  many  between  36 
and  55,  as  there  would  be  were  the  condition  of  adult 
slaves  as  favorable  to  longevity  as  that  of  the  free  colored. 

The  census  of  1840  shows  that  the  increase  of  the  slave 
population  for  the  10  previous  years  was  25  per  cent.  The 
census  of  1830  made  the  gain  32  per  cent.  So  that  the 
increase  in  10  years  previous  to  1840  was  7  per  cent,  less 
than  the  10  years  previous  to  1830.  According  to  the 
census  of  1840,  the  slave-exporting  states — Delaware,  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  the  District  of  Columbia — had 
parted  with  436,501 ;  the  slave-importing  states — Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Florida — 
show  a  gain  of  only  271,586.  The  deficiency,  164,915,  or 
difference  between  the  exports  and  imports,  c.an  be  ex- 
plained only  by  the  loss  of  life  in  the  south.  (See  Pro- 
ceedings of  Antislavery  Convention  for  1843,  pp.  39-41.) 


72  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

The  loss  of  life  attending  the  slave-trade  in  Brazil,  at 
present,  is  thirty-five  per  cent.;  that  is,  for  every  65,000 
imported  to  that  country,  100,000  are  shipped  from  Africa. 

Fifth.  The  breach  of  domestic  relations,  between  pa- 
rents and  children,  husbands  and  wives,  in  the  two  great 
departments  of  slavery,  will  fully  identify  them  in  moral 
character.  Perhaps  here  the  African  slave-trade,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  number  of  its  victims,  may  claim  a  "less 
bad"  character  than  its  mother,  slavery.  But  the  number 
of  victims  of  our  home  unnatural  severances  may  more 
than  balance  the  account.  As  it  is,  in  the  department  of 
our  national  and  individual  sinfulness,  there  is  guilt  enough 
contracted  to  rank  those  concerned,  and  the  system  in 
which  they  are  engaged,  as  one  of  the  most  immoral  de- 
partments of  human  crime.  And  of  the  millions  of  cases 
that  could  be  given,  a  few  of  which  are  given  in  these  vol- 
umes, we  now  present  the  following,  which  occurred  in 
the  city  of  Washington: 

"A  poor  woman  was  put  in  jail  about  a  week  since.  It 
is  the  jail  that  cost  the  people  of  the  United  States  nearly, 
or  quite,  860,000.  Had  this  woman  committed  crime? 
Not  the  least  in  the  world.  Her  mistress  wants  to  sell  her, 
and  pocket  the  money — that's  all.  She  puts  her  into  jail 
simply  to  know  where  she  is  when  she  finds  a  customer. 
This  poor  woman,  offered  for  sale,  expects  to  be  confined  in 
a  few  weeks.  She  has  a  husband  and  mother,  but  neither 
of  them  are  allowed  to  go  into  the  jail  to  visit  her.  The 
husband  tried  to  talk  with  her  through  the  grated  window, 
the  other  day,  but  was  driven  off  by  some  menial  of  the 
establishment.  Amanda,  the  slave-woman,  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Church,  which  takes  the  name  of  Bethlehem. 
I  hear  she  is  in  good  standing  in  the  Church,  and  sustains 
a  fair  and  good  character  generally.  The  mistress — the 
owner — the  trader — who  is  she?  She  is  Miss  A.  B.,  a  ven- 
erable spinster,  a  few  years  ago  from  Virginia,  and  now 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  73 

residing  in  this  city.  She  brought  with  her  this  woman, 
her  mother,  and  two  or  three  children,  upon  whose  wages 
she  has  lived  for  years  past,  and  now  proposes  to  put 
Amanda  in  her  pocket.  She  (Miss  A.  B.)  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  belongs  to  the  M'Kendree 
Chapel  congregation,  and  attends  class  regularly.  I  am 
glad  to  say  some  of  the  brethren  are  a  little  stirred  about 
this  transaction. 

•'Within  a  few  days  another  young  wife  with  an  infant  in 
her  arms,  has  been  put  into  the  same  people's  jail.  She  is 
seized  upon  by  the  sheriff,  and  $130  levied  upon  her.  This 
is  done  by  a  woman  too — a  Mrs.  or  Miss  M.,  of  Prince 
George's  county,  Md.  Mrs.  M.  sold  the  woman  a  few  years 
since,  with  her  two  children,  for  $650,  and  has  received  the 
entire  sum,  within  $50,  with  the  interest — say  $80 — and 
now  levies  upon  her  for  this  balance.  The  husband  pro- 
cured a  purchaser,  and  has  contrived  himself  to  pay  $350 
on  the  original  sum.  The  balance  is  yet  due,  not  to  the 
woman,  but  to  some  one  else,  who  made  the  purchase.  The 
lawyers  have  got  hold  of  the  case,  and  whether  the  anxious 
husband  will  be  able  to  save  his  wife,  or  be  compelled  to 
give  her  up,  heaven  only  knows."  (Correspondent  of  the 
N.  Y.  Tribune.) 

Sixth.  The  following  opinions,  or  rather  arguments,  will 
further  show  the  moral  identity  of  the  African  trade  and 
American  slavery : 

"  The  slave-trade  finds  no  one  bold  enough  now  to  defend 
even  its  memory.  And  yet,  when  we  hear  the  slave-trade 
reprobated,  and  slavery  defended  by  the  same  persons,  I 
must  own  I  think  the  slave-trade  unfairly  treated.  The 
abuse  of  the  defunct  slave-trade  is  a  cheap  price  for  the  abet- 
tor of  living  slavery  to  pay  by  way  of  compromise.  But  we 
can  not  allow  the  colonial  party  on  these  terms  to  cry  truce 
with  us,  by  stigmatizing  the  slave-trade.  There  is  not 
one  general  principle  on  which  the  slave-trade  is  to  be 
7 


74  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

stigmatized  which  does  not  impeach  slavery  itself."  (Lord 
Nugent.) 

Lord  Grenville  then  read  a  resolution  of  the  commons: 
"This  resolution,  he  said,  stated,  first,  that  the  slave-trade 
was  contrary  to  humanity,  justice,  and  sound  policy.  That 
it  was  contrary  to  humanity  was  obvious ;  for  humanity 
might  be  said  to  be  sympathy  for  the  distress  of  others, 
or  a  desire  to  accomplish  benevolent  ends  by  good  means. 
But  did  not  the  slave-trade  convey  ideas  the  very  reverse 
of  the  definition?  It  deprived  men  of  all  those  comforts, 
in  which  it  pleased  the  Creator  to  make  the  happiness  of 
his  creature  to  consist,  of  the  blessings  of  society,  of  the 
charities  of  the  dear  relationships  of  husband,  wife,  father, 
son,  and  kindred,  of  the  due  discharge  of  the  relative  duties 
of  these,  and  of  that  freedom  which,  in  its  pure  and  natural 
sense,  was  one  of  the  greatest  gifts  of  God  to  man. 

"It  was  impossible  to  read  the  evidence,  as  it  related  to 
this  trade,  without  acknowledging  the  inhumanity  of  it  and 
our  own  disgrace. 

"  In  a  state  of  nature,  man  had  a  right  to  the  fruit  of  his 
own  labor  absolutely  to  himself;  and  one  of  the  main  pur- 
poses for  which  he  entered  into  society  was,  that  he  might 
be  better  protected  in  the  possession  of  his  rights.  In  both 
cases,  therefore,  it  was  manifestly  unjust,  that  a  man  should 
be  made  to  labor  during  the  whole  of  his  life,  and  yet  have 
no  benefit  from  his  labor.  Hence  the  slave-trade  and  the 
colonial  slavery  were  a  violation  of  the  very  principle,  upon 
which  all  law  for  the  protection  of  property  was  founded. 
Whatever  benefit  was  derived  from  that  trade  to  an  indi- 
vidual, it  was  derived  from  dishonor  and  dishonesty.  He 
forced  from  the  unhappy  victim  of  it  that  which  the  latter 
did  not  wish  to  give  him ;  and  he  gave  to  the  same  victim 
that  which  he  in  vain  attempted  to  show  was  an  equivalent 
to  the  thing  he  took,  it  being  a  thing  for  which  there  was  no 
equivalent,  and  which,  if  he  had  not  obtained  by  force,  he 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AXD  SLAVERY.  75 

would  not  have  possessed  at  all.  The  injustice  complained 
of  was  not  confined  to  the  bare  circumstance  of  robbing 
them  of  the  right  to  their  own  labor.  It  was  conspicuous 
throughout  the  system." 

"WILLIAM  SHAKSPEARE> 
"  Shylock.    What  judgment  shall  I  dread,  d^kng  no  wrong  ? 
You  have  among  you  many,  g-  pur«rl»asp.d  slave,. 
Which,  like  your  asses,  and  your  dogs,  aud  mul 
Youuse  in  abject  and  in  slavish  parts, 
Because~yoir5o"u^llt"  thumr-sharpSay"  to  you, 
them  to  your  heirs  ? 


Why  sweat  they  innli  i  TmTlIf  MM  T_kl  Until'  lnlT'i 
Be^madelSlJOfl  as  y»Ufti,  ami  let  their  palates 
Be  seasoned  with  such  viands  ?  you  will  answer, 
The  slaves  are  ours:  so  do  I  answer  you: 
ThcTpound  of  Hesh,  which  I  demand  of  him, 
Is  dearly  bought,  is  mine,  and  I  will  have  it; 
If  you  deny  me,  fie  upon  your  law." 

"  SIR, — Iniquitous,  and  most  dishonorable  to  Maryland,  is 
that  dreary  system  of  partial  bondage,  which  her  laws  have 
hitherto  supported  with  a  solicitude  worthy  of  a  better 
object,  and  her  citizens  by  their  practice  countenanced. 

"Founded  in  a  disgraceful  traffic,  to  which  the  parent 
country  lent  her  fostering  aid,  from  motives  of  interest,  but 
which  even  she  would  have  disdained  to  encourage,  had 
England  been  the  destined  mart  of  such  inhuman  merchan- 
dise, its  continuance  is  as  shameful  as  its  origin. 

"Wherefore  should  we  confine  the  edge  of  censure  to 
our  ancestors,  or  those  from  whom  they  purchased  ?  Are 
not  we  EQUALLY  guilty?  They  strewed  around  the  seeds 
of  slavery — we  cherish  and  sustain  the  growth.  They  intro- 
duced thfe  system — we  enlarge,  invigorate,  and  confirm  it." 
(William  Pinckney,  speech  in  the  Maryland  House  of  Dele- 
gates, 1789.) 

THOMAS  ERSKINE. — The  Lord  Chancellor — Erskine — said: 
"  From  information  which  he  could  not  dispute,  he  was  war- 
ranted in  saying,  that  on  this  continent  [Africa]  husbands 


76  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

were  fraudulently  and  forcibly  severed  from  their  wives,  and 
parents  from  their  children ;  and  that  all  the  ties  of  blood 
and  affection  were  torn  up  by  the  roots.  He  had  himself 
seen  the  unhappy  natives  put  together  in  heaps  in  the  hold 
of  a  ship,  where,  with  every  possible  attention  to  them, 
their  situation  must  have  been  intolerable.  He  had  also 
heard  proved  in  courts  of  justice,  facts  still  more  dreadful 
than  those  which  he  had  seen.  One  of  these  he  would  just 
mention.  The  slaves  on  board  a  certain  ship  rose  in  a  mass 
to  liberate  themselves ;  and  having  far  advanced  in  the  pur- 
suit of  their  object,  it  became  necessary  to  repel  them  by 
force.  Some  of  them  yielded  ;  some  of  them  were  killed 
in  the  scuffle ;  but  many  of  them  actually  jumped  into  the 
sea  and  were  drowned ;  thus  preferring  death  to  the  misery 
of  their  situation ;  while  others  hung  to  the  ship,  repenting 
of  their  rashness,  and  bewailing  with  frightful  noises  their 
horrid  fate.  Thus  the  whole  vessel  exhibited  but  one  hide- 
ous scene  of  wretchedness.  They  who  were  subdued,  and 
secured  in  chains,  were  seized  with  the  flux,  which  carried 
many  of  them  off.  These  things  were  proved  in  a  trial 
before  a  British  jury,  which  had  to  consider  whether  this 
was  a  loss  which  fell  within  the  policy  of  insurance — the 
slaves  being  regarded  as  if  they  had  been  only  a  cargo  of 
dead  matter.  He  could  mention  other  instances,  but  they 
were  much  too  shocking  to  be  described.  Surely,  their 
lordships  could  never  consider  such  a  traffic  to  be  consistent 
with  humanity  or  justice." 

8.  Slavery  is  the  parent  of  the  slave-trade. 

Africa  is  annually  robbed  of  four  hundred  thousand  of 
her  population,  to  glut  the  cupidity  or  to  minister  to  the 
pride  and  luxury  of  nominal  Christians  and  true  Moham- 
medans. From  two  hundred  thousand  to  three  hundred 
thousand  of  these  perish  in  their  original  capture ;  by  the 
fatigues  and  privations  in  their  transit  to  the  coast ;  by 
disease  and  death  in  the  middle  passage.  .And  the  remain- 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  77 

der,  or  between  one  hundred  thousand  and  two  hundred 
thousand,  are  doomed  to  perpetual  slavery.  There  are 
above  one  hundred  thousand  transported  to  Cuba  and  Bra- 
zil, by  the  two  weakest  nations  of  Europe ;  and,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  vigilance  of  the  British  nation,  the  horrors  of 
the  trade,  as  to  capture,  middle  passage,  landing  and  sea- 
soning, are  greater  than  before  the  legal  condemnation  of 
the  trade.  When  the  contest  against  the  slave-trade  com- 
menced, a  little  over  half  a  century  ago,  it  was  calculated 
there  were  from  two  to  three  millions  of  slaves  in  the  world ! 
There  were  recently,  according  to  documents  quoted  by  Sir 
James  Buxton,  from  six  to  seven  millions.  Fifty  years  ago, 
it  was  estimated  that  one  hundred  thousand  slaves  were 
annually  taken  from  Africa.  Now  it  is  calculated  the  num- 
ber is  four  hundred  thousand  per  annum. 

"  To  begin  with  that  which  has  chiefly  occupied  my  atten- 
tion for  many  months  past :  last  November  I  started  on  a 
pilgrimage  through  all  the  books  and  parliamentary  docu- 
ments connected  with  the  slave-trade.  I  began  from  the 
very  beginning,  and,  partly  in  person,  still  more  by  deputy, 
I  traversed  the  whole  subject ;  and  such  a  scene  of  diabo- 
lism, and  such  an  excess  of  misery,  as  I  have  had  to  survey, 
never,  I  am  persuaded,  before  fell  to  the  lot  of  an  unhappy 
investigator.  Will  you  believe  it,  the  slave-trade,  though 
England  has  relinquished  it,  is  now  double  to  what  it  was 
when  Wilberforce  first  began ;  and  its  horrors  not  only 
aggravated  by  the  increase  of  the  total,  but  in  each  particu- 
lar case  more  intense  than  they  were  in  1788?  Will  you 
believe  it,  again,  that  it  requires  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand 
human  beings  per  diem  in  order  to  satisfy  its  enormous  maw  ? 
How  glad  have  I  been  to  have  escaped  from  the  turmoils  of 
Parliament,  and  to  have  my  mind  and  my  time  my  own, 
that  I  might  bestow  them  without  interruption  on  this  vast 
mass  of  misery  and  crime !" — J.  F.  Buxton' s  Letter  to  J.  J. 
Gurney,  August  18,  1838.  (See  Buxton's  Life,  p.  369.) 


76  MOHAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

were  fraudulently  and  forcibly  severed  from  their  wives,  and 
parents  from  their  children ;  and  that  all  the  ties  of  blood 
and  affection  were  torn  up  by  the  roots.  He  had  himself 
seen  the  unhappy  natives  put  together  in  heaps  in  the  hold 
of  a  ship,  where,  with  every  possible  attention  to  them, 
their  situation  must  have  been  intolerable.  He  had  also 
heard  proved  in  courts  of  justice,  facts  still  more  dreadful 
than  those  which  he  had  seen.  One  of  these  he  would  just 
mention.  The  slaves  on  board  a  certain  ship  rose  in  a  mass 
to  liberate  themselves ;  and  having  far  advanced  in  the  pur- 
suit of  their  object,  it  became  necessary  to  repel  them  by 
force.  Some  of  them  yielded  ;  some  of  them  were  killed 
in  the  scuffle ;  but  many  of  them  actually  jumped  into  the 
sea  and  were  drowned ;  thus  preferring  death  to  the  misery 
of  their  situation ;  while  others  hung  to  the  ship,  repenting 
of  their  rashness,  and  bewailing  with  frightful  noises  their 
horrid  fate.  Thus  the  whole  vessel  exhibited  but  one  hide- 
ous scene  of  wretchedness.  They  who  were  subdued,  and 
secured  in  chains,  were  seized  with  the  flux,  wlu'ch  carried 
many  of  them  off.  These  things  were  proved  in  a  trial 
before  a  British  jury,  which  had  to  consider  whether  this 
was  a  loss  which  fell  within  the  policy  of  insurance — the 
slaves  being  regarded  as  if  they  had  been  only  a  cargo  of 
dead  matter.  He  could  mention  other  instances,  but  they 
were  much  too  shocking  to  be  described.  Surely,  their 
lordships  could  never  consider  such  a  traffic  to  be  consistent 
with  humanity  or  justice." 

8.  Slavery  is  the  parent  of  the  slave-trade. 

Africa  is  annually  robbed  of  four  hundred  thousand  of 
her  population,  to  glut  the  cupidity  or  to  minister  to  the 
pride  and  luxury  of  nominal  Christians  and  true  Moham- 
medans. From  two  hundred  thousand  to  three  hundred 
thousand  of  these  perish  in  their  original  capture ;  by  the 
fatigues  and  privations  in  their  transit  to  the  coast ;  by 
disease  and  death  in  the  middle  passage.  .And  the  remain- 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  77 

der,  or  between  one  hundred  thousand  and  two  hundred 
thousand,  are  doomed  to  perpetual  slavery.  There  are 
above  one  hundred  thousand  transported  to  Cuba  and  Bra- 
zil, by  the  two  weakest  nations  of  Europe ;  and,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  vigilance  of  the  British  nation,  the  horrors  of 
the  trade,  as  to  capture,  middle  passage,  landing  and  sea- 
soning, are  greater  than  before  the  legal  condemnation  of 
the  trade.  When  the  contest  against  the  slave-trade  com- 
menced, a  little  over  half  a  century  ago,  it  was  calculated 
there  were  from  two  to  three  millions  of  slaves  in  the  world ! 
There  were  recently,  according  to  documents  quoted  by  Sir 
James  Buxton,  from  six  to  seven  millions.  Fifty  years  ago, 
it  was  estimated  that  one  hundred  thousand  slaves  were 
annually  taken  from  Africa.  Now  it  is  calculated  the  num- 
ber is  four  hundred  thousand  per  annum. 

"  To  begin  with  that  which  has  chiefly  occupied  my  atten- 
tion for  many  months  past :  last  November  I  started  on  a 
pilgrimage  through  all  the  books  and  parliamentary  docu- 
ments connected  with  the  slave-trade.  I  began  from  the 
very  beginning,  and,  partly  in  person,  still  more  by  deputy, 
I  traversed  the  whole  subject ;  and  such  a  scene  of  diabo- 
lism, and  such  an  excess  of  misery,  as  I  have  had  to  survey, 
never,  I  am  persuaded,  before  fell  to  the  lot  of  an  unhappy 
investigator.  Will  you  believe  it,  the  slave-trade,  though 
England  has  relinquished  it,  is  now  double  to  what  it  was 
when  Wilberforce  first  began;  and  its  horrors  not  only 
aggravated  by  the  increase  of  the  total,  but  in  each  particu- 
lar case  more  intense  than  they  were  in  1788?  Will  you 
believe  it,  again,  that  it  requires  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand 
human  beings  per  diem  in  order  to  satisfy  its  enormous  maw  ? 
How  glad  have  I  been  to  have  escaped  from  the  turmoils  of 
Parliament,  and  to  have  my  mind  and  my  time  my  own, 
that  I  might  bestow  them  without  interruption  on  this  vast 
mass  of  misery  and  crime !" — J,  F.  Buxton 's  Letter  to  J.  J. 
Gurney,  August  18,  1838.  (See  Buxton's  Life,  p.  369.) 


80  MORAL  IDENTITY  OF  THE 

order  to  get  the  benefit  of  selling  the  criminal.  Not  only 
murder,  theft,  and  adultery  are  punished  by  selling  the 
criminal  for  a  slave,  but  every  trifling  crime  is  punished  in 
the  same  manner."  (Moore.) 

"The  king  of  Sain,  on  the  least  pretense,  sells  his  sub- 
jects for  European  goods.  He  is  so  tyrannically  severe, 
that  he  makes  a  whole  village  responsible  for  the  fault  of 
one  inhabitant,  and,  on  the  least  pretense,  sells  them  all  for 
slaves."  (Sayer.) 

These  witnesses  were  mostly  engaged  in  the  slave-trade 
themselves.  Others  might  be  easily  added,  were  it  neces- 
sary. Barbarism,  ignorance,  and  even  inhumanity  are  made 
more  barbarous,  ignorant,  and  inhuman,  by  the  slavery 
which  exists  in  this  country,  which  sends  its  pestilence  over 
to  Africa,  to  degrade  it  below  common  heathenism ;  and  all 
this  by  Christian  men!  (See  Clarkson's  History  of  the 
Slave-trade,  pp.  504-506.) 

10.  The  principles  on  which  the  slave-trade  has  been 
destroyed  by  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  will 
finally  overthrow  slavery  itself.  The  slave-trade  is  barely 
the  leading  means  of  supplying  slavery  with  its  victims. 
The  other  means  of  supply  is  the  domestic  slave-growing 
and  the  domestic  slave-trade  of  the  country.  The  great 
moral  principles  which  affect  any  one  of  these  branches  of 
supply  must  affect  the  other,  as  well  as  the  practical  system 
of  slaveholding  itself.  What  overturns  the  one  must  over- 
turn the  other;  and  success  in  one  is  the  earnest  of  success 
in  the  other.  If  the  slave-trade  be  contrary  to  humanity 
and  justice,  so  must  slavery  be  contrary  to  humanity  and 
justice.  The  one  is  barely  the  means ;  the  other  is  the  end 
to  be  accomplished  by  the  means;  and  if  the  African  trade 
is  inhuman  and  unjust,  as  a  sinful  means  to  secure  a  sinful 
end,  the  domestic  trade  of  purchase,  sale,  transportation, 
and  slave-growing,  which  is  only  one  other  great  means  to 
secure  the  same  sinful  end — the  holding  in  bondage  our 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY.  81 

fellow-men — must  be  also  sinful.  It  is  of  little  account, 
whether  the  slave  in  America  was  enslaved  as  soon  as  born 
where  he  labors,  or  is  a  native  African.  The  home-made 
slave  and  the  foreign  slave  are  owned  by  the  same  master, 
labor  in  the  same  field,  are  deprived  of  the  same  rights,  vis- 
ited with  the  same  wrongs,  and  the  entailment  on  their  pos- 
terity the  same. 

The  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  was  one  of  the  most 
glorious  events  that  ever  transpired.  It  was  a  contest,  but 
it  was  one,  not  of  brute  force,  but  of  reason.  It  was  a 
contest  between  those  who  felt  deeply  for  the  happiness 
and  elevation  of  their  fellow-men,  and  those  who,  through 
vicious  custom  and  the  impulse  of  avarice,  had  trampled 
under  foot  the  sacred  rights  of  nature,  and  attempted  to 
deface  the  Divine  image  from  their  minds.  In  the  discus- 
sions accompanying  and  following  the  abolition  of  the 
African  trade,  the  most  generous  moral  sympathies  have 
been  called  into  exercise,  and  have  gone  far  to  preserve 
national  virtue,  and  to  preserve  from  barbarism  the  nations 
which  engaged  in  the  suppression  of  the  trade.  This 
discussion  is  useful  in  the  discrimination  of  moral  character, 
ranking  the  wise  and  good  on  the  side  of  freedom,  and 
leaving  the  mistaken  and  vicious  on  the  side  of  slavery,  or 
in  a  sinful  neutrality.  It  is  a  marvelous  occurrence,  that 
two  nations,  the  most  powerful  on  earth — England  and 
America — the  mother  and  the  child — should,  in  the  same 
month  of  the  same  year,  have  abolished  the  African  trade. 
Emancipation,  in  part,  followed  in  America.  Under  the 
British  flag  freedom  has  occupied  the  place  of  bondage. 
Other  nations  are  following  the  good  example ;  and  Amer- 
ica is  in  rapid  progress  to  complete  the  work,  commenced 
in  the  abolition  of  the  foreign  trade,  and  continued  in  the 
advance  of  freedom.  Well  might  the  devout  Clarkson 
conclude  his  admirable  history  of  the  abolition  of  the  African 
slave-trade  with  this  golden  sentence:  "Reader,  thou  art 


82  AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE  AND  SLAVERY. 

now  acquainted  with  the  history  of  this  contest.  Rejoice 
in  the  manner  of  its  termination !  and,  if  thou  feelest  grate- 
ful for  the  event,  retire  within  thy  closet,  and  pour  out  thy 
thanksgiving  to  the  Almighty,  for  this  his  unspeakable  act 
of  mercy  to  thy  oppressed  fellow-creatures." 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  83 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

As  the  enslavement  of  children,  as  soon  as  they  are  born, 
is  become  now  the  substitute  of  the  African  slave-trade, 
and,  therefore,  the  support  of  slavery,  which  feeds  and 
supplies  its  victims,  it  will  deserve  particular  attention.  We 
will,  therefore,  devote  a  short  chapter  exclusively  to  its 
consideration.  The  following  are  the  arguments  and  con- 
siderations which  we  bring  against  it: 

1.  No  one  can  ever  be  born  a  slave. 

Liberty  is  the  natural  right  of  every  human  being,  as 
soon  as  he  breathes  the  air;  and  no  human  law  can  justly 
deprive  him  of  that  right,  which  he  derives  from  the  law  of 
nature.  "All  men  are  created  free  and  equal." 

In  this  light  it  is  considered  in  the  Roman  or  civil  law,  as 
appears  from  the  following  quotation  from  the  Institutes  of 
Justinian:  "Liberty  is  a  natural  faculty,  which  belongs  to 
every  man,  unless  he  is  deprived  of  it  by  force  or  by  law. 
Slavery  is  a  constitution  of  the  law  of  nations,  by  which 
any  one  is  subjected  to  the  dominion  of  another,  CONTRARY 
TO  NATURE."*  According  to  this,  liberty  is  the  natural 
faculty,  privilege,  or  right  of  every  person;  and  every  one 
possesses  it,  till  he  is  deprived  of  it  by  force  or  law. 
While  slavery  is  contrary  to  nature,  it  is  a  constitution, 
or  institution,  of  the  law  of  nations.  Hence,  every  child 
of  man  is  free,  till  he  is  made  a  slave.  He  is  never 
born  a  slave.  If  one  were  born  a  slave,  then  all  must  be 
born  slaves,  because  all  are  born  alike ;  nor  do  we  hear  of 
any  manumissions  from  a  state  of  nature,  that  persons 
should  be  free,  which  must  be  the  case,  were  men  born 

*  "  Libertas  quidem  est  naturalis  facultas  ejus,  quod  cuique 
facere  libet,  nisi  siquid  vi  aut  jure  prohibetur.  Servitus  autem 
est  constitutio  juris  gentium,  qua  quis  dominio  alieno  contra 
naturara  subjicitur."  (Institutiones  Justiniani,  lib.  i,  tit.  3.) 


84  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

slaves ;  nor  do  we  find  that  any  become  slaves  by  nature : 
they  are  made  so  by  force  or  by  law;  and  without  such 
force  of  violence  or  law,  they  are  never  found  to  be  slaves. 
We  hear,  indeed,  of  some  who  were  born  servants  in  the 
house,  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs.  But  servants  were 
not  slaves;  and,  indeed,  the  servants  of  the  patriarchs  Avere 
mostly  their  subjects  or  dependents. 

2.  The  enslavement  of  children,  especially,  is  a  direct 
violation  of  the  law  of  nature;  and  this  law  of  nature,  as 
well  as  other  natural  laws,  is  the  law,  or  constitution,  of 
God  himself.      Blackstone — book  i,  p.  426 — after  showing 
that  men  can  not  justly  be  made  slaves  by  captivity  or  the 
sale  of  one's -self,  proves  that  they  can  not  be  born  slaves, 
because,  "this  being  built  on  the  two  former  rights,  must 
fall  together  with  them.     If  neither  captivity  nor  the  sale 
of  one's  self  can,  by  the  law  of  nature  and  reason,  reduce 
the  parent  to  slavery,  much  less  can  they  reduce  the  off- 
spring." 

3.  All  men,  from  their  birth,  are  naturally,  necessarily, 
and  in  all  circumstances,  the  rightful  owners  of  Uiemselves, 
and  are,  therefore,  incapable  of  becoming  the  goods  and 
chattels  of  another,  except  by  theft,  violence,  or  unjust 
laws;   for,  since  all  men  are  naturally  free,  no  one  can 
deprive  them  of  that  freedom,  but   by  the  complicated 
crime  of  theft  and  robbery.     A  man  may,  by  his  crimes, 
forfeit  his  right  to  freedom,  or  he  may  sell  his  freedom  for 
life,  as  it  respects  labor ;  but  he  can  not  transfer  to  another 
his  right  to  perform  the  duties  of  religion,  nor  the  relative 
duties  which  he  owes  to  men;  and  as  no  man  can  transfer 
to  another  his  own  right  to  private,  relative  duties,  he 
certainly  can  not  transfer  the  natural  rights  of  another  to  a 
third  person;  therefore,  no  man,  without  being  guilty  of 
theft    or    robbery,    can   take   away   the   freedom   of    the 
Africans ;  much  less  can  he  take  away  the  freedom  of  their 
children  and  their  children's  children;    for,   when  human 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  85 

beings  are  stolen,  or,  which  is  the  same,  are  made  property, 
the  stolen  person  and  the  true  owner  are  the  same ;  hence, 
properly  speaking,  it  is  impossible  to  steal  one  human  being 
from  another.  A  child  may  be  stolen  from  a  parent;  but 
it  must  be  stolen  as  a  child,  and  not  as  a  chattel.  The 
services  of  the  child  are  abstracted  from  the  parent;  but 
the  thief  could  not  take  the  child  as  an  article  of  property. 
As  a  thing  to  be  possessed,  and  used  as  a  thing  of  right, 
the  child  can  only  be  stolen  from  himself.  Theft,  when  a 
human  being  is  stolen,  is  nothing  but  slaveholding ;  and 
slaveholding  is  nothing  else  than  the  theft  of  a  human 
being ;  for  the  essence  of  theft  is,  that  the  thief  uses  as  his 
own  what  belongs  to  another.  So,  when  the  owner  and 
the  property  become  identical,  every  moment's  use  of  the 
owner,  as  the  property  of  another  and  not  of  himself,  is  an 
act  of  stealing ;  hence,  when  one  man  possesses  and  uses 
another  as  a  slave,  he  as  much  commits  an  act  of  theft,  as 
the  original  kidnapper,  who  stole  the  man  from  Africa. 

4.  The  enslavement  of  children  is  one  of  the  unsound 
principles  of  heathenism,  incorporated  in  the  civil  law,  but 
adopted  by  the  nominal  Christian  enslavers  from  their 
heathen  compeers  in  crime.  The  Roman  or  civil  law  says, 
"Persons  are  born  slaves,  from  slave  mothers,  or  they  are 
made  slaves  by  captivity  or  law ;"  and  elsewhere  the  general 
maxim  is  adopted,  "Partus  sequitur  ventrem" — the  child 
follows  the  condition  of  the  mother.  It  is  nothing  in  the 
way  of  slaveholders,  that  this  same  maxim  is  contrary  to 
the  law  of  nature,  because  they  will  be  bound  by  no  law 
of  right. 

Enslaving  children,  on  account  of  the  condition  of 
the  parent,  is  visiting  a  capital  crime  on  the  child  for 
the  sin  of  the  parent,  even  should  it  be  granted  that 
the  parent  is  justly  deprived  of  liberty  for  crime.  The 
offspring,  according  to  all  just  laws,  are  not  sentenced  to 
death  for  the  sin  of  their  parents ;  and  it  is  no  more  unjust 
8 


86  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

to  put  to  death  the  children  of  murderers,  for  the  murders 
committed  by  their  parents,  than  to  enslave  the  children  of 
slaves,  because  their  mothers  were  slaves.  How  great, 
then,  is  the  injustice,  when  the  doom  of  perpetual  servitude 
is  inflicted,  not  upon  criminals,  convicted  of  atrocious  wick- 
edness, but  upon  children,  from  their  birth  to  their  grave, 
who  have  never  been  accused  of  any  crime,  and  against 
whom  there  is  not  the  least  suspicion  of  guilt ! 

When  the  mother  is  a  slave  for  no  crime,  as  has  always 
been  the  case  with  every  African  slave  mother,  as  the  annals 
of  history  furnish  no  example  of  the  enslavement  of  children 
on  account  of  the  crimes  of  the  mother,  the  atrocity  seems 
to  be  somewhat  hightened,  if  it  were  possible  that  the  sin  of 
enslavement  could  be  aggravated.  Has  ever  a  slave  been 
made  such,  in  all  the  United  States,  because  the  mother 
was  sentenced  by  law  to  undergo  the  penalty  of  slavery  for 
crime  ?  No  such  instance  ever  properly  took  place ;  so  that 
innocent  children  of  innocent  mothers  are  constantly  pun- 
ished, by  the  laws  of  the  slave  states  and  the  slaveholders, 
and  are  punished  as  guilty  felons.  Here,  three  millions  of 
innocent  beings,  guilty  of  no  crime — accused  of  no  crime — 
suspected  of  no  crime — are  punished  as  felons,  or  man- 
slayers;  and  the  same  unjust  sentence  is  pronounced  against 
their  children  throughout  all  time. 

Is  it  the  will  of  God,  that,  if  the  parents  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  thieves,  and  had  chains  on  them  when  the  chil- 
dren were  born,  the  children  ought  to  be  slaves  ?  If  so,  it 
would  follow,  that  all  who  were  born  in  the  political  state, 
against  which  our  fathers  rose  in  1Y75,  ought  to  have 
continued  under  it;  and,  therefore,  the  principle,  that  all 
men  are  created  free  and  equal,  must  be  wrong;  or,  those 
to  whom  the  law  of  Moses  was  given,  having  been  born  of 
slave  parents,  were  Pharaoh's  lawful  property,  and  the 
Lord  punished  him  for  holding  on  to  his  own  lawful  prop- 
erty. If  the  wrath  of  God  awaits  him  who  rushes  into  an 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  87 

African  village,  and  seizes  on  men  and  women  and  makes 
slaves  of  them,  how  can  he  escape  who  seizes  the  child  in 
the  arms  of  the  slave  mother  before  it  opens  its  eyes,  and 
makes  it  a  slave  for  life  ? 

5.  The  enslavement,  of  children  is  forbidden  in  the  law 
of  Moses.     On  the  seventh  year  all  Hebrews,  who  became 
temporary  slaves,  were  free,  or,  at  the  farthest,  at  the  year 
of  jubilee;    for  the  year  of  jubilee  proclaimed  liberty  to 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land.     Thus   the   enslaving  of 
children,  on  account  of  their  parents,  is  clearly  overturned 
by  the  law  of  God  as  delivered  to  Moses. 

6.  To  enslave  children  is  contrary  to  the  very  spirit  of 
the  New  Testament.     Our  Savior  came  "to   preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor,  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach 
deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recovery  of  sight  to  the 
blind ;  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised."     Can  the 
disciples  of  such  a  master  inflict  the  least,  much  less  the 
greatest  of  punishments,  upon  a  human  being  who  has  never 
been  guilty  of  any  crime?     Our  Savior  took  little  children 
in  his  arms  and  blessed  them.     The  slaveholders  seize  on 
them  as  a  lawful  prey — tear  them  from  the  bosoms  of  their 
distracted  mothers — doom  them  to  ignorance  and  degra- 
dation.    And  so  low  do  they  reduce  them  in  the  scale  of 
subjection,  that  they  can  descend  no  lower.     The  maxim 
of  the  civil  law  is,  "In  scrvorum  conditione  nulla  est  dif- 
ferentia " — in  the  condition  of  slaves  there  is  no  difference. 

7.  It  is  as  unjust  to  enslave  the  children  of  colored  peo- 
ple, as  the  children  of  the  white  people.     It  is  as  unjust  to 
enslave  the  children  of  white  or  black  persons  in  the  slave 
states,  as  it  would  be  to  enslave  them  in  the  free  states. 
The  blacks  are  born  as  free  as  the  whites ;  and  one  black  is 
born  as  free  as  another.     No  human  law  can  justly  deprive 
any  one  of  liberty,  which  is  an  inheritance  of  his  birth. 
No   human  legislation  can   make   that  which   is   morally 
wrong  politically  right.     It  would  be  the  same  crime  for 


88  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

individuals  to  enslave  white  children,  after  such  laws  were 
made,  as  it  was  before.  We  have  the  same  right  in  the 
north  to  make  laws  to  enslave  our  children,  that  the  south 
have  to  enslave  theirs.  But,  neither  we  nor  they  have  any 
more  right  to  make  such  laws,  than  we  have  to  attempt  to 
legislate  away  the  laws  of  God.  And  this  is  much  worse 
in  the  hands  of  professed  Christians  and  ministers,  than  in 
the  hands  of  infidels.  And  all  this  is  self-evident,  and  needs 
no  reasoning  to  establish  it,  other  than  to  express  it  in  plain 
terms.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  asserts  this  as  a 
self-evident  truth :  "  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  SELF-EVI- 
DENT, that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  and  they  are  endowed 
by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights :  among  these 
are  life,  LIBERTY,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  The  char- 
acter of  the  man  who  enslaves  a  child,  must  be  fixed  by 
the  same  standard  which  decides  the  character  of  him  who 
goes  to  the  shores  of  Africa,  and  steals  or  buys  stolen  men 
and  enslaves  them.  Neither  human  laws  nor  geographical 
boundaries  can  change  moral  principles.  If  the  stolen 
person,  among  the  Jews,  were  found  in  the  hand  of  a  man, 
he  was  pronounced  as  guilty  as  the  original  man-stealer, 
and  the  sentence,  in  all  cases,  was  death.  Those  in  whose 
hands  innocent  children  are  found,  have  in  possession  stolen 
children;  and  they  will  be  held  as  guilty  of  death,  of 
moral  death,  in  the  eye  of  the  law  of  God.  From  this 
there  is  no  escape,  but  to  restore  to  the  stolen  child  the 
possession  of  himself,  and  to  hold  him,  not  as  stolen  prop- 
erty to  be  used  for  his  benefit,  but  as  stolen  property  to  be 
restored  with  the  least  possible  delay  to  the  owner — to  the 
child  himself. 

How  specially  atrocious  is  the  sin  to  make  laws  to  enslave 
our  own  children,  and  then  practice  these  laws  over  our 
children  and  grandchildren,  and  our  relatives  by  blood! 
Who  are  the  enslaved  mulattoes  of  the  south,  but  the  blood 
relations  of  those  who  enslave  them?  This  is  no  fabrication 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  89 

of  abolitionists,  or  northern  fanatics.  The  parents  of  these 
children,  and  their  near  and  distant  relatives,  have  enslaved 
them;  and  this  is  constantly  done,  every  year,  every  day, 
every  hour. 

8.  The  enslavement  of  children  is  theft  continued  in. 
Slaves,  in  this  country,  were  originally  stolen  from  Africa, 
or  seized  by  violence,  and  thus  abducted.  In  the  enslave- 
ment of  the  children  of  slaves,  the  same  theft  is  continued. 
The  first  man-thief,  kidnapper,  or  man-stealer,  stole  the 
slaves  from  Africa;  and  retaining  them  in  bondage  is  a 
recognition  of  the  first  act  of  stealing,  and  a  mere  repeti- 
tion or  continuance  of  it.  Every  infant  born  of  an  African 
slave  is  stolen  from  its  mother,  which  is  as  plain  an  act  of 
man-stealing  as  the  first.  Where  is  the  difference,  whether 
the  child  was  born  in  Virginia  or  Africa,  when  it  becomes 
a  slave  ?  For  example,  take  two  children  of  the  same  age, 
the  one  born  in  Africa,  the  other  in  Virginia:  both,  in 
process  of  time,  become  the  slaves  of  the  same  master,  and 
are  equally  treated  as  slaves — is  not  the  condition  of  both 
the  same? 

Now,  to  enslave  is  "  to  convert  a  freeman  into  a  slave,"  or 
"to  continue  him  .in  a  state  of  slavery"  God  made  man 
free;  men  have  made  him  a  slave.  All  men  are  created 
equal — all  are,  by  nature,  in  possession  of  liberty.  It 
amounts  to  the  same,  whether  a  freeman  be  converted  into 
a  slave  by  conquest,  by  kidnapping,  or  by  the  laws  of  the 
land.  It  may  be  the  act  of  an  individual  or  a  community. 
The  very  same  thing,  in  all  these  modes,  is  done  to  a  free- 
man— the  act  of  reducing  him  to  a  slave.  The  act  is  pre- 
cisely the  same,  and  the  effect  of  it  on  the  man  is  precisely 
the  same,  were  the  modes  of  doing  it  ten  times  more  numer- 
ous than  they  are  or  have  been — just  as  murder  is  the 
same,  whether  the  act  was  perpetrated  by  the  sword,  the 
rifle,  the  bowie-knife,  or  the  halter.  It  is  murder  in  all 
these  cases.  So  slavery  is  the  same  to  the  enslaved,  whether 
8* 


90  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

his  liberty  was  taken  from  him,  and  slavery  inflicted  on  him, 
by  secret  stealth,  open  violence,  or  by  following  the  condi- 
tion of  his  much-injured  and  enslaved  mother.  A  man 
may  be  very  innocent  in  becoming,  by  inheritance,  the  legal 
owner  of  a  slave;  and  the  restoration  of  right  to  the  original 
owner  may,  for  a  time,  be  impracticable ;  but  none  of  these 
things  sanction  the  original  wrong,  or  abolish  the  moral 
claim  of  the  original  owner;  or,  in  other  words,  the  right 
of  the  slave  to  the  freedom  of  himself.  In  such  case,  the 
legal  owner  of  the  slave  may  retain,  in  safe-keeping,  the 
stolen  property — the  enslaved  man — till  he  has  it  in  his 
power  to  give  him  liberty ;  but  he  is  not  to  use  this  property 
as  his  own,  but  in  trust  for  its  owner.  And  the  master  is 
at  no  loss  to  know  who  the  owner  is ;  for  the  man  or  child, 
who  is  now  his  legal  slave,  is  the  original,  the  rightful,  and 
the  only  owner  of  himself. 

9.  Enslaving  children  is  chargeable  with  all  the  abomina- 
tions of  slave-growing,  as  portrayed  in  the  foregoing  chap- 
ter. The  darkest  picture  on  the  page  of  human  criminality 
is  that  of  enslaving  children.  This  is  done  for  gain.  The 
brutal  pleaders  for  this  accursed  thing  compare  mothers  to 
brood-mares,  in  their  comments  on  the  heathen  maxim, 
"The  child  follows  the  condition  of  the  mother."  Pros- 
pective mothers  of  the  doomed  infant  slaves,  are  selected 
and  purchased  in  the  market  for  this  purpose,  and  kept  in 
view  of  its  gains.  And  where  no  intention  of  such  deeds 
enters  the  hearts  of  slaveholders,  the  essential  laws  of  the 
system  secure  the  very  same  thing.  So  that,  whether  it  is 
done  by  law,  or  by  the  mere  will  of  the  owner,  the  same 
thing  is  done.  The  young  brood  are  slaves  from  their 
birth.  The  law  of  nature  is  broken.  The  mere  disgrace 
of  this  more  than  heathenish  brutishness,  is  the  smallest 
part  of  the  evil.  The  manifest  sinfulness  is  the  chief  thing. 
Hence,  every  one  who  enslaves  children,  must  be  content  to 
take  all  the  disgrace  and  sin  which  belong  to  a  voluntary 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  91 

slave-breeder.  From  this  there  is  no  escape,  but  by  flight 
from  the  system  which  embraces  this  abomination  of  slave- 
growing  as  one  of  its  inseparable,  constituent  parts. 

10.  The  enslaving  of  children  is  a  mere  substitute  for 
the  African  slave-trade.  How  was  the  system  of  slavery 
in  this  country  commenced,  and  subsequently  supplied,  till 
it  obtained  all  the  maturity  and  strength  of  a  powerful 
system  ?  The  answer  is  plain — from  the  supplies  furnished 
annually  from  the  African  slave-trade.  How  is  slavery  now 
sustained  in  America  ?  Not  by  the  African  slave-trade,  but 
by  the  American  slave-trade  of  these  United  States — the 
constant  enslavement  of  children.  Virginia  went  for  the 
abolition  of  the  African  trade,  that  their  home  trade  might 
be  more  profitable  in  growing  young  slaves  for  market. 
The  extreme  south  were  zealous  for.  the  African  trade. 
But  home  consumption  gained  the  day ;  and  from  that  time 
till  now  has  engrossed  the  slave  market,  and  excluded  the 
foreign  trade  as  piracy  and  sin,  punishable  with  death. 
But  the  home  trade  of  slave-growing  has  done  the  same 
thing,  and  is,  therefore,  sinful,  if  the  African  trade  be  sinful. 

A  survey  of  the  number  of  children  enslaved  annually, 
will  set  this  in  a  clear  light.  The  number  of  free  people 
reduced  to  slavery  annually,  and  the  manumitted  who  are 
re-enslaved,  though  considerable  in  itself,  is  small  compared 
with  the  number  of  children  annually  enslaved.  In  the 
aggregate  number  enslaved  every  year,  the  children  need 
only  be  calculated,  for  the  others  are  as  nothing  compared 
to  them.  The  number  of  children  may  be  pretty  accurately 
ascertained  by  the  census.  As  there  are  now  about  three 
millions  of  slaves  in  the  United  States,  if  twenty-five  years 
will  make  a  generation,  then  three  millions  of  human  beings 
arc  enslaved  in  the  United  States  every  twenty-five  years. 
But,  taking  thirty  years  for  a  generation,  then  every  thirty 
years  three  millions  are  made  slaves,  not  in  Africa,  but  in 
the  United  States,  under  the  flag  of  liberty.  According  to 


92  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

this  calculation,  one  hundred  thousand  are  annually  en- 
slaved; or,  in  other  words,  one  hundred  thousand  free 
persons  are  made  slaves  every  year  in  our  free  republic! 
or  the  number  daily  deprived  of  liberty,  and  reduced  to 
slavery,  is  two  hundred  and  seventy-four !  In  our  Christian 
country,  where  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal,  three  mil- 
lions are  deprived  of  freedom  and  converted  into  slaves 
every  thirty  years,  one  hundred  thousand  annually,  and 
two  hundred  and  seventy-four  daily !  "  Hail  Columbia, 
happy  land!" 

To  make  this  matter  more  plain,  if  plainer  it  can  be,  we 
ask  the  question,  What  would  the  effect  be  on  our  slave 
system,  were  all  born  free  to  continue  free,  or  were  no 
children  enslaved?  What  else  would  it  be,  than  to  sweep 
away  slavery  from  our  midst  in  one  generation?  Hence, 
enslaving  children  is  the  support  of  slavery.  The  African 
trade  was  the  first  great  supplier.  Now,  our  own  domestic 
trade  does  the  work  effectually,  and  supplies  annually  one 
hundred  thousand  fresh  victims,  to  keep  up  the  vilest  system 
that  ever  saw  the  sun. 

11.  Nor  can  the  man  who  raises  another  have  a  right  to 
his  services  during  life.  Those  who  raise  orphans  are  not 
entitled  to  their  services  during  life.  The  services  of  such, 
till  they  are  twenty-one,  are  considered  as  the  price  for 
raising  them.  Such  services  parents  are  allowed  for  raising 
their  children.  And,  certainly,  slaveholders  can  not  be 
entitled  to  any  further  remuneration.  Besides,  they  gener- 
ally raise  the  slaves  in  a  very  coarse  manner.  They  have 
not  the  trouble  of  nursing  them,  nor  do  they  give  them  any 
education.  They  also  receive  such  services  from  their  pa- 
rents, as  more  than  compensate  for  the  expenses  incurred 
in  supporting  the  young  slaves  before  they  arrive  at  matu- 
rity. Consequently,  masters  are  not  entitled  to  the  services 
of  slaves  during  life,  because  they  have  raised  them.  The 
man  who  enslaves  another  because  he  has  raised  him, 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  «3 

violates  his  rights  as  much  as  the  man-stealer  violates  the 
rights  of  those  whom  he  steals  from  Africa. 

12.  Nor  can  those  who  purchase  slaves  have  any  just 
title  to  their  offspring,  so  as  to  make  slaves  of  them  also, 
without  the  violation  of  natural  right.  The  slaves  pur- 
chased were  themselves  unjustly  enslaved ;  for  they  were 
either  stolen  or  descended  from  those  who  were  stolen,  and, 
therefore,  none  can  have  any  right  to  buy  or  sell  them. 
Were  the  parents  justly  bound  to  service  during  life,  that 
could  give  no  right  of  enslaving  the  offspring.  Parents 
have  no  right  to  the  services  of  their  own  children  beyond 
a  limited  time;  and,  therefore,  are  not  permitted  to  hold 
them  in  bondage  during  life,  nor  to  sell  them  to  others  for 
slaves.  And  if  parents  who  nurse,  train,  educate,  and 
provide  sustenance  for  their  children,  have  no  right  to  hohl 
their  own  children  as  slaves  during  life,  no  others  can  have 
such  right.  For  it  can  not  be  pretended  that  slaveholders 
can  have  as  much  right  to  the  service  of  children  whom 
they  have  neither  nursed,  educated,  or  provided  for,  as 
parents  have  to  their  own  offspring.  Hence,  slavery,  which 
originated  in  violence  and  theft,  and  is  perpetuated  by 
means  equally  as  unjust  as  those  in  which  it  originated,  is  a 
flagrant  violation  of  the  divine  law  against  man-stealing. 

•  13.  The  right  of  freedom  can  not  be  taken  away  from 
any  innocent  human  being,  without  the  greatest  injustice ; 
although  the  power  of  freedom  may  be  taken  away  for 
crime.  By  what  law  or  authority  can  the  right  of  freedom 
be  taken  away  ?  Not  by  the  moral  law,  which  precludes 
stealing,  robbery,  and  violence;  not  by  the  authority  of 
the  civil  law,  for  the  civil  law  has  no  just  power  to  interfere 
with  men's  private  rights.  The  people,  the  constituents  of 
civil  government,  never  transferred,  or  could  transfer,  to 
their  representatives  a  power  over  the  private  rights  of  , 
men;  and  civil  rulers  can  never  justly  give  legal  power  to 
others,  which  they  did  not  possess  themselves.  Slaves, 


94  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

therefore,  have  the  right  to  freedom,  and  the  power  of  en- 
joying this  right  is  withheld  from  them  by  the  system  of 
slavery,  which  proves  slaveholding  to  be  downright  theft 
and  robbery. 

14.  The  claim  of  property  in  man  and  in  an  inanimate 
object  can  not  stand  on  the  same  basis.  It  is  true,  slave- 
holders tell  us  that  "  slaves  are  as  truly  property  as  freehold 
estate."  This  is  not  true.  The  master's  right,  even  according 
to  slave  laws,  is  not  exactly  "  that  of  a  fee  simple  absolute." 
Even  slave  laws  have  assumed  a  power  of  interference  and 
control  which  are  not  assumed  in  reference  to  other  prop- 
erty. An  owner  may  destroy  the  life  of  his  oxen,  dogs,  or 
horses;  and  with  regard  to  chattels  generally,  he  may 
destroy  them.  In  these  and  such  matters,  even  slave  laws 
throw  in  their  interference,  however  feeble  and  unavailing. 
But  the  slave  may  be  a  Christian,  a  husband,  a  wife,  a  child, 
a  parent.  In  each  of  these  relations,  as  well  as  that  of 
being  an  accountable  agent,  he  may  possess  responsibilities 
of  the  highest  order,  which  he  is  bound  to  fulfill  by  the  law 
of  God,  in  preference  to  every  other  obligation  whatever. 
Now  the  alleged  "  freehold  right  of  property  in  man,"  is  a 
palpable  violation  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  God's 
law.  Hence,  the  assertion  of  such  rights  as  these,  whether 
by  law  or  otherwise,  is  an  intolerable  usurpation  on  the  laws 
of  God  and  the  rights  of  human  nature.  When  the  planters 
of  Demerara  complained  that  the  Sunday  labor  of  the 
slaves  was  unjustly  wrested  from  them  by  the  interference 
of  the  Imperial  Parliament,  Lord  Bathurst  replied,  "that 
Sunday  was  the  slaves'  day,  to  be  employed  according  to 
the  law  of  God,"  and  added  by  expressing  the  hope,  "  that 
no  Christian  master  would  so  far  forget  himself  as  to  claim 
indemnity  for  what  his  religion — the  law  of  God — must 
have  taught  him  he  ought  never  to  have  required."  By 
this  he  pronounced  slavery  to  be  a  usurpation  on  the  rights 
of  our  fellow-men,  and  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  God. 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  95 

The  keen  retort  of  Daniel  O'Connel,  in  1831,  in  the  Brit- 
ish Parliament,  to  Mr.  Burge,  is  worth  noticing  in  this  place. 
Mr.  Burge,  a  stout  pro-slavery  advocate,  in  his  speech,  took 
occasion  to  ask,  indignantly,  "  What !  would  you  come  in  be- 
tween man  and  his  freehold?"  To  this  O'Connel,  in  his 
reply,  made  the  following  prompt  retort:  "I  started,  as  if 
something  unholy  had  trampled  on  my  father's  grave,  and  I 
exclaimed,  with  horror,  '  A  FREEHOLD  IN  A  HUMAN  BEING  !' " 
(London  Antislavery  Reporter,  vol.  iv,  p.  268.) 

Take  another  replication  of  the  same  sort.  In  1832  Sir 
C.  B.  Cardington,  an  extensive  slave-owner  in  the  West 
Indies,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Buxton,  speaking  of  the  negro, 
said :  "  He  is  a  slave  by  no  act  of  the  planter,  but  by  the 
laws  of  England;  by  the  same  laws  he  is  my  absolute 
property,  of  which  I  can  not  justly  be  deprived  without 
compensation."  Mr.  Buxton  replies:  "You  call  the  slave 
your  absolute  property.  Here  is  precisely  the  point  on 
which  we  are  at  issue.  I  venture  to  call  your  property  in 
him,  however  acquired,  A  USURPATION.  I  deny  that  any 
human  being,  or  body  of  men,  can  have  had  power  to  give 
him  to  you.  My  creed  is,  that  to  every  individual  born  into 
the  world  belongs  the  absolute  right  to  his  own  limbs — his  own 
labor — his  own  liberty — to  his  wife — to  his  children — to  his 
enjoyment  of  entire  freedom — AND  TO  THE  UNRESTRICTED 
WORSHIP  OF  HIS  GOD.  I  know,  in  short,  no  claim  you  can 
plead  to  extort  from  him  unrequited  labor,  which  an  Alge- 
rine  might  not  plead  with  equal  force  to  hold  in  bondage  his 
Christian  captives  —  ABSOLUTE  PROPERTY  IN  OUR  FELLOW- 
MEN  !"  (Antislavery  Reporter,  vol.  v,  pp.  307-309.  Lon- 
don, 1833.) 

To  the  same  purpose  is  the  following  declaration  of  Wil- 
berforce,  uttered  June  25,  1824:  "Everyman  is  endowed 
with  various  faculties,  for  the  use  of  which  he  is  responsible 
to  his  Creator.  He  has  no  right  to  transfer  that  responsi- 
bility to  another;  and  for  another  to  take  it  away  from  him, 


90  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

except  for  some  crime  which  justifies  such  a  punishment,  is 
a  downright  infringement  on  the  rights  of  God,  as  well  as 
a  usurpation  of  the  rights  of  man.  Slavery  in  any  condi- 
tion and  any  form  is  insufferable,  because  it  is,  in  fact,  to 
give  to  man  that  which  the  corrupt  nature  of  man  ought 
not  to  possess — absolute  and  uncontrolled  power  over  a 
fellow-creature."  (Antislavery  Reporter  for  1824,  London, 
p.  99.] 

15.  Now  a  few  words  as  to  the  just  right  of  the  master 
to  the  slave,  especially  the  slave  child.  There  are  some 
whose  notions  of  justice  are  so  confused,  and  confounded  by 
slavery,  as  to  suppose  the  master  has  something  like  an 
honest  title  to  the  person  of  the  slave.  We  have  been  so 
long  accustomed  to  talk  of  "my  slave,"  and  "your  slave," 
and  of  what  he  would  fetch,  if  sold,  that  we  are  apt  to 
imagine  that  he  is  really  yours  or  mine,  and  that  we  have  a 
just  right  to  keep,  sell,  or  give  him  away  by  gift  or  will. 
Let  us  test  this  point  by  a  very  plain  parable.  Here  is  a 
very  valuable  commodity;  and  here  are  two  claimants  for 
it — a  white  man  and  a  black  man.  The  commodity  is  the 
body  of  the  black  man.  The  white  man  says,  "  it  is  mine." 
The  black  man  says,  "it  is  mine."  Now,  the  question  is,  if 
every  man  had  his  own,  to  whom  would  that  black  body 
belong  ?  The  claim  of  the  black  man  to  his  own  body  is 
just  this :  God  gave  him  his  own  body.  He  holds  it  by 
God's  grant.  Will  any  one  say,  he  came  by  his  body  in  an 
illegal  manner  ?  Does  any  man  suspect,  that  he  played  the 
knave  and  purloined  his  limbs  ?  It  must  be  admitted,  the 
negro  has  a  pretty  good  prima  facie  claim  to  his  own  body. 
If  any  man  thinks  he  has  a  better,  the  onus  probandi  lies  on 
him. 

Next  we  come  to  the  claim  of  the  white  man  to  the  body 
of  the  black  man.  What  is  the  foundation  of  your  right  ? 
It  shall  be  the  best  that  the  case  will  admit  of.  You 
received  him  from  your  father.  Very  good !  Your  father 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  97 

*ifc*  -  *  *    *' 

bought  him  from  a  neighboring  slaveholder.  The  slave- 
holder bought  him  from  a  trader,  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia. The  trader  bought  him  from  a  man-merchant  in  Africa. 
But  how  did  the  man-merchant  obtain  the  black  man  ?  He 
stole  him;  he  kidnapped,  him.  The  very  root  of  your  claim 
is  theft,  robbery,  violence,  inconceivable  wickedness.  If  any 
thing  ever  was  proved  on  earth  by  evidence,  it  was  proved, 
and  is  now  universally  acknowledged,  that  the  method  of 
obtaining  slaves  in  Africa  was  theft,  robbery,  violence,  man- 
stealing,  and  murder.  If  your  slave  came  direct  from 
Africa  your  right  to  his  person  is  absolutely  nothing.  But 
your  claim  to  the  child  born  in  Kentucky,  Virginia,  or  Mary- 
land is  still  less.  The  new-born  infant  has  done — could  have 
done — nothing  to  forfeit  his  right  to  freedom.  And  to  talk 
about  rights,  justice,  equity,  and  law,  as  connected  with 
slavery,  is  to  talk  downright  nonsense.  If  we  had  no 
interest  in  the  case,  and  were  only  speaking  of  the  conduct 
of  other  nations  or  individuals,  we  would  all  use  the  same 
language;  and  we  should  all  speak  of  slavery  as  we  now 
speak  of  the  piratical  slave-trade — that  is,  we  would  call 
slavery  in  the  United  States  rank,  naked,  flagrant,  and  un- 
disguised injustice.  Whatever  may  be  the  excuse  for  the 
master  against  the  cruel  slave-laws  which  first  enslaves  the 
infant,  and  then  forbids  his  emancipation,  he  can  pretend  to 
no  claim  to  the  person  of  a  child  because  he  happens  to  be 
born  of  a  slave  mother,  who,  in  her  turn,  was  unjustly 
deprived  of  her  freedom,  and  prevented  from  exercising  her 
just  right  to  it.  (See  Mr.  James  Buxton's  speech  before 
house  of  Parliament,  May  15, 1823,  p.  19.  London,  1823.) 
10.  The  slaveholder,  therefore,  has  no  just  title  to  the 
slave ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  slave  has  a  just  title  to 
himself.  Property  that  is  stolen,  or  taken  by  unjust  violence, 
though  it  pass  through  a  thousand  hands,  even  by  honest 
purchase,  still  belongs  to  the  original  owner;  and  to  him, 
according  to  the  plainest  principles  of  justice,  it  must  revert. 
9 


98  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

The  ancestors  of  the  Africans  were  originally  free,  but  were 
unjustly  seized  and  sold  into  bondage;  and,  by  an  unjust 
and  arbitrary  power,  their  offspring  are  still  enslaved,  and 
are  the  same  as  stolen  property.  As  no  one  had  a  right  to 
steal  them,  so  no  one  since  has  had  any  just  right  to  sell, 
buy,  or  hold  them  as  slaves,  and  the  title  to  them  is  prop- 
erly the  title  to  stolen  property,  the  owner  of  which  is 
present,  is  undoubtedly  known,  and  now  claims  it,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  black  and  white  man,  given  heretofore,  contend- 
ing about  the  owner  of  the  black  man's  body.  And,  though 
the  state  authorizes  such  injustice,  it  is,  nevertheless,  unjust. 
The  man  who  will  be  just  no  farther  than  the  state  compels 
him,  is  a  rogue  in  his  heart.  And  the  man  who  will  take 
away  the  liberty  of  another  because  the  laws  permit  him, 
would  also  take  the  property  of  another,  if  similar  permis- 
sion were  given  him. 

17.  It  is  objected  here,  "that  if  slaveholders  have  no 
just  title  to  their  slaves,  because  they  were  bought  from 
kidnappers,  that  argument  would  prove  that  our  title  to 
lands,  which  were  by  force  or  fraud  wrested  from  the 
Indians,  is  also  null."  To  this  we  reply,  that  justice  and 
right  law  give  stolen  property  to  the  true  owner  when  he 
can  be  found.  But  if  no  owner  is  found,  occupancy  and 
possession  give  a  just  title.  If  an  Indian  can  show  as  good 
a  title  to  the  land  as  the  colored  man  can  to  his  body,  then 
the  Indian  should  in  justice  have  the  land.  The  colored 
man  was  the  original  possessor  of  his  own  body;  he  now, 
by  presenting  his  body,  furnishes  the  true  claimant.  And 
as  he  was,  without  doubt,  the  original  possessor,  and  is  the 
present  occupier,  he  is  the  true  owner  of  himself;  unless 
the  claimant  can  show  that  he  has  forfeited  his  right  to  his 
liberty  by  a  crime  against  the  state.  And  even  here  the 
slave  master  is  ousted,  because  the  public  criminal  has  for- 
feited his  liberty  to  the  state,  and  is,  therefore,  consigned 
first  to  the  jail,  and  then  to  the  penitentiary.  The  state  is 


TTIF,  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN.  99 

then  his  owner,  for  safe-keeping,  to  prevent  him  from  injuring 
society.  Not,  however,  his  owner  for  gain,  but  for  the 
public  good.  Convicts  are  not  sent  to  the  plantations  of 
masters  to  work  for  their  benefit,  but  they  are  consigned  to 
the  public  officers  for  safe-keeping. 

1 8.  Besides,  every  case  in  which  a  child  is  made  a  slave, 
is  a  new  case  of  enslavement,  as  original   as  that  which 
occurs  in  the  case  of  an  African  stolen  from  Africa;   for 
the  fact  of  the  mother  being  a  slave  or  free  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  matter.     Every  child  enslaved  is,  therefore, 
an  act  of  original  theft,  or  robbery,  very  easily  traced  out, 
in  almost  all  cases ;  and  in  the  case  of  infants  and  minors, 
no  man  can  ever  claim  them  as  slaves,  because  their  infancy 
or  minority  are  themselves  proofs  that  they  have  never  by 
crime  forfeited  their  liberty,  and,  therefore,  they  now  pos- 
sess it;  and  all  such  as  even  claim  infants  or  minors  as 
slaves,  are,  by  prima  facie  evidence,  guilty  of  attempted  theft 
or  robbery,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  punished  severely 
by  fine,  imprisonment,  or  even  death,  for  such  an  outrage 
on  the  liberties  of  the  human  race. 

19.  The  following,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Wesley,  will 
close  this  chapter: 

"  Had  your  father,  have  you,  has  any  man  living,  a  right 
to  use  another  as  a  slave  ?  It  can  not  be,  even  setting  rev- 
elation aside.  Neither  war  nor  contract  can  give  any  man 
such  a  property  in  another,  as  he  has  in  his  sheep  or  oxen. 
Much  less  is  it  possible  that  any  child  of  man  should  ever  be 
born  a  slave.  Liberty  is  the  right  of  every  human  being, 
as  soon  as  he  breathes  the  vital  air;  no  human  law  can  de- 
prive him  of  that  right  which  he  derives  from  the  law  of 
nature.  If,  therefore,  you  have  any  regard  for  justice,  to 
say  nothing  of  mercy  or  of  the  revealed  law  of  God,  ren- 
der to  all  their  due.  Give  liberty  to  whom  liberty  is  due — 
to  every  child  of  man,  to  every  partaker  of  human  nature. 
*  et  none  serve  you  but  by  his  own  act  and  deed — rby  his 


100  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

own  voluntary  choice.  Away  with  all  whips,  all  chains,  all 
compulsion.  Be  gentle  toward  all  men,  and  see  that  you 
invariably  do  to  every  one  as  you  would  he  should  do  to 
you." 


PART  II. 

DEPRIVATION  OP  NATURAL  RIGHTS. 


..U 


CHAPTER   I. 

DEPRIVATION    OF    RIGHTS NATURAL    RIGHTS PERSONAL  LIB- 
ERTY  PERSONAL  SECURITY RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY. 

1.  ACCORDING  to  Blackstone — book  i,  ch.  1 — the  primary 
and  principal  objects  of  law  are  JURA,  RIGHTS,  and  INJURING, 
WRONGS.     Rights  are  either  the  rights  of  persons,  which 
concern,  and  are  annexed  to,  the  persons  of  men;  or  they 
are  rights  of  things,  or  such  as  a  man  may  acquire  over 
external  objects,  or  things  connected  with  his  person. 

Wrongs  also  are,  first,  private  wrongs,  which,  being  an 
infringement  merely  of  particular  rights,  concern  individuals 
only,  and  in  law  are  called  civil  injuries;  and  secondly, 
public  wrongs,  which,  being  a  branch  of  general  or  public 
rights,  affect  the  whole  community,  and  in  law  are  called 
crimes  and  misdemeanors. 

Slavery  requires,  in  its  very  nature,  acts  of  injustice, 
which  infringe  on  the  inalienable  rights  of  mankind;  while 
it  also  inflicts  injuries  which  form  a  large  class  of  great 
wrongs  to  the  slave.  Sn  f,W.  slavery  is  a  deprivation  of 
jiisf^jnaHpnahfr  rights;  and  a]sn  ™fli"-+-«  preat  wmqgg  OT 
injuries  on  the  innocent.  We  will  first  go  through  the  lead- 
ing acts  of  injustice  of  which  it  is  chargeable,  and  next  con- 
sider the  principal  wrongs  with  which  it  is  justly  accused. 

2.  Personal  rights  are  either  absolute  or  relative.     Abso- 
lute rights  are  such  as  appertain  to  men  as  individuals; 
relative  rights  are  those  which  belong  to  men  as  members 
of  society.     The  absolute  rights  of  individuals  are  such  as 
belong  to  their  persons  merely  in  a  state  of  nature,  and 
which  every  man  is  entitled  to  enjoy,  whether  out  of  soci- 
ety or  in  it.     The  ABSOLUTE  RIGHTS  of  man  are  usually 
summed  up  in  one  general  appellation,  and  denominated 
the  NATURAL  LIBERTY  OF  MANKIND.     This  natural  liberty 
consists  properly  in  a  power  of  acting  as  one  thinks  fit, 

103 


104  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  SECURITY, 

without  any  consent  or  control,  unless  by  the  law  of  nature ; 
being  a  right  inherent  in  us  by  birth,  and  one  of  the  gifts 
of  God  to  man  at  his  creation.  And  this  natural  liberty 
can  not  be  justly  restrained  by  human  laws,  any  farther 
than  is  necessary  for  the  general  advantage  of  the  public. 

According  to  Blackstone — book  i,  p.  130 — the  absolute 
natural  rights  are  three  in  number;  namely,  1.  The  right  of 
PERSONAL  SECURITY;  2.  The  right  of  PERSONAL  LIBERTY; 
and,  3.  The  right  of  PRIVATE  PROPERTY.  All  these  three 
great  rights  are  the  gift  of  God  himself  to  every  human 
being,  as  is  clear  from  the  Bible,  and  as  the  law  of  nature, 
as  discovered  by  natural  indications,  plainly  demonstrates. 
No  one  can  alienate  these  rights  from  himself  or  others,  or 
destroy  or  infringe  them,  without  committing  a  crime  against 
God's  laws.  Nor  can  they  be  lawfully  taken  from  any 
human  being,  except  as  a  punishment  for  the  commission  of 
crime.  Nor  can  they  be  lawfully  subjected  to  any  human 
check  or  control,  except  so  far  as  to  prevent  their  exercise 
interfering  with  their  use  by  others. 

The  first  absolute  right,  or  that  of  personal  security,  con- 
sists, according  to  Blackstone,  in  a  person's  legal  and  unin- 
terrupted enjoyment  of  his  life,  his  limbs,  his  body,  his 
health,  and  his  reputation. 

The  second  absolute  right,  or  that  of  personal  liberty, 
consists  in  the  free  and  uninterrupted  privilege  of  locomo- 
tion, or  of  going,  staying,  returning,  whither,  where,  when, 
and  as  we  please. 

The  third  absolute  right,  or  that  of  private  property, 
consists  in  the  free  use,  enjoyment,  and  disposal  of  all  his 
acquisitions,  without  any  control  or  diminution. 

These  three  great  absolute  natural  rights  belong  equally 
to  all  mankind,  whatever  their  circumstances,  ages,  or  con- 
ditions may  be. 

The  RELATIVE  RIGHTS — vide  Blackstone,  book  i,  pp.  123, 
,  422 — which  concern  the  relations  that  men  sustain  to  each 


AND  THE  RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY.  105 

other,  are,  1 .  The  rights  of  master  and  servant — not  master 
and  slave;  2.  Of  husband  and  wife;  3.  Of  parent  and 
child ;  4.  Of  guardian  and  ward.  All  these  relations  and 
the  rights  connected  with  them  are  the  appointment  of  God, 
and  are  not  to  be  changed  without  great  perversion  and  sin 
against  God. 

There  are  two  other  classes  of  rights,  which  may  be  called 
CIVIL  RIGHTS,  and  CONVENTIONAL  RIGHTS.  The  benefit,  if 
not  the  possession,  of  these  belongs  to  all  mankind,  and  they 
ought  to  be  possessed  and  used  as  just  occasion  requires,  by 
all  persons  who  can  justly  and  lawfully  possess  them,  and 
who  are  capable  of  using  them  properly. 

The  CIVIL  RIGHTS  are  auxiliary  to  the  great  absolute  natu- 
ral rights,  and  are  necessary  to  protect  and  sustain  them  in 
full  exercise.  These  are  the  rights  to  petition  government 
for  the  redress  of  grievances ;  the  right  to  apply  to  courts 
of  justice  for  redress  of  injuries;  the  right  to  bear  arms; 
the  right  of  suffrage ;  the  right  to  testify  as  witnesses ;  the 
right  to  serve  as  jurymen;  the  right  to  acquire  education; 
the  right  to  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  ;  the  rights 
of  conscience ;  and  some  others.  The  great  absolute  natural 
rights  can  not  be  protected  and  enjoyed  without  the  assist- 
ance of  these  minor  rights — as  the  histories  of  all  despotic 
governments  show.  This  fact,  and  the  fact  that  we  are  by 
nature,  on  arrival  at  years  of  discretion,  capable  of  exercising 
these  rights,  proves,  by  necessary  implication,  that  these 
rights  are  also  the  gift  of  God,  and  of  course  inalienable. 
(Vide  Blackstone  i,  141.) 

The  CONVENTIONAL  RIGHTS  are  such  as  are  acquired  by 
contract  or  agreement  with  others — such  as  the  right  to 
marry ;  the  right  to  use  the  services  or  property  of  others ; 
the  right  of  social  intercourse ;  the  right  to  wages,  rent,  or 
profit;  the  right  to  collect  our  debts,  etc.,  and  a  great  va- 
riety of  others,  corresponding  with  the  agreements  which 
men  make  with  each  other.  These  rights,  when  properly 


106  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  SECURITY, 

acquired,  are  sacredly  enforced  by  the  law  of  God  as  other 
rights. 

All  these  rights,  taken  collectively,  make  up  the  sum  total 
of  what  are  called  HUMAN  RIGHTS.  And  they  are  so  called 
because  they  belong  to  human  beings  only ;  yet  to  all  human 
beings. 

3.  All  these  just  rights  of  mankind  are  divine  rights; 
that  is,  they  are  guaranteed  to  man  by  the  laws  of  God. 
And  any  act  which  annuls  or  infringes  on  these  natural  or 
divine  rights,  is  a  wrong,  crime,  or  sin;  because  it  is  an  act 
against  the  law  of  God,  and  committed  in  contempt  and 
violation  of  the  law.  The  Bible  recognizes  and  asserts  the 
existence  of  the  natural  rights  of  men  in  the  strongest 
manner,  by  denouncing  and  threatening  with  punishment 
those  who  violate  them.  A  critical  analysis  of  the  denun- 
ciations of  the  Bible  will  show,  that  they  are  all  directed 
against  infringements  of  the  security,  the  liberty,  and  the 
property  of  others,  and  of  the  relative  and  other  just  com- 
mon law  rights  of  others.  The  technical  distinctions  and 
mere  language  of  the  common  law  are  not  found  in  the 
Bible ;  but  the  denunciations  against  the  violation  of  these 
rights  are  far  more  frequent,  minute,  and  severe  in  the  Bible 
than  the  penalties  of  the  common  law  are.  And  this  could 
not  be  the  case,  had  not  these  rights  been  inherited  as  the 
gifts  of  God,  and  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  divine  law. 

This  matter  is  put  in  a  very  clear  light  by  the  distin- 
guished jurist,  Blackstone,  in  his  Commentaries  on  the  Laws 
of  England,  in  the  section  of  his  introduction  to  that  great 
work.  We  select  the  following  from  this  illustrious  man : 

"Man,  considered  as  a  creature,  must  necessarily  be  sub- 
ject to  the  laws  of  his  Creator,  for  he  is  entirely  a  depend- 
ent being."  (P.  39.) 

"  And  consequently,  as  man  depends  absolutely  upon  his 
Maker  for  every  thing,  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  in  all 


AND  THE  RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY.  107 

\K)ints  conform  to  his  Maker's  will.  This  will  of  his  Maker 
is  called  the  law  of  nature.'"  (Id.) 

"  The  law  of  nature,  being  coeval  with  mankind,  and  dic- 
tated by  God  himself,  is  of  course  superior  in  obligation  to 
any  other.  It  is  binding  over  all  the  globe,  in  all  countries, 
and  at  all  times ;  no  human  laws  are  of  any  validity,  if  con- 
trary to  this  ;  and  such  of  them  as  are  valid  derive  all  their 
force  and  all  their  authority,  mediately  or  immediately,  from 
this  original."  (P.  41.) 

"  Upon  these  two  foundations — the  law  of  nature  and  the 
law  of  revelation — depend  all  human  laws.  That  is  to  say, 
no  human  laws  should  be  suffered  to  contradict  these.  To 
instance  in  the  case  of  murder — this  is  expressly  forbidden 
by  the  divine,  and  demonstrated  by  the  natural  law;  and 
from  these  prohibitions  arises  the  true  unlawfulness  of  this 
crime.  Those  human  laws  that  annex  a  punishment  to  it, 
do  not  at  all  increase  its  moral  guilt,  or  superadd  any  fresh 
obligation  in  foro  conscientia — by  the  decision  of  con- 
science— to  abstain  from  its  perpetration.  Nay,  if  any 
human  law  should  allow  or  enjoin  us  to  commit  it,  we  are 
bound  to  transgress  that  human  law,  or  else  we  must  offend 
both  the  natural  and  divine."  (Pp.  42,  43.) 

"Those  rights,  then,  which  God  and  nature  have  estab- 
lished, and  are  therefore  called  natural  rights — such  as  life 
and  liberty — need  not  the  aid  of  human  laws  to  be  more 
effectually  invested  in  every  man  than  they  are ;  neither  do 
they  receive  any  additional  strength  when  declared  by  the 
municipal  laws  to  be  inviolable.  On  the  contrary,  no  human 
legislature  has  power  to  abridge  or  destroy  them,  unless  the 
owner  shall  himself  commit  some  act  that  amounts  to  a  for- 
feiture." (P.  54.) 

As  to  bad  laws,  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
legislature  to  revise  the  enactments ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  good  citizen  to  obey  them  till  this  is  done.  On  this 


108  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  SECURITY, 

important  point,  we  quote  the  following,  by  Chief  Justice 
Christian,  attached  to  Blackstone's  Commentaries : 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice  Hobart  has  also  advanced  that  even 
an  act  of  Parliament  made  against  natural  justice,  so  as  to 
make  a  man  a  judge  in  his  own  cause,  is  void  in  itself — for 
jura  naturce  sunt  immutdbilia — and  they  are  leges  legum. 
(Hob.  87.)  With  deference  to  those  high  authorities,  I 
should  conceive  that  in  no  case  whatever  can  a  judge  oppose 
his  own  opinion  and  authority  to  the  clear  will  and  declara- 
tion of  the  legislature.  His  province  is  to  interpret  and 
obey  the  mandates  of  the  supreme  power  of  the  state. 
And  if  an  act  of  Parliament — if  we  could  suppose  such  a 
case — should,  like  the  edict  of  Herod,  command  all  the 
children  under  a  certain  age  to  be  slain,  the  judge  ought  to 
resign  his  office  rather  than  be  auxiliary  to  its  execution ; 
but  it  could  only  be  declared  void  by  the  same  legislative 
power  by  which  it  was  ordained.  If  the  judicial  power 
was  competent  to  decide  that  an  act  of  Parliament  was  void 
because  it  was  contrary  to  natural  justice,  upon  an  appeal 
to  the  house  of  lords,  the  inconsistency  would  be  the  con- 
sequence that,  as  judges,  they  must  declare  void  what,  as 
legislators,  they  had  enacted  should  be  valid." 

The  learned  Judge  himself  declares,  in  p.  91,  "If  the 
Parliament  will  positively  enact  a  thing  to  be  done  which  is 
unreasonable,  I  know  of  no  power  in  the  ordinary  forms  of 
the  Constitution  that  is  vested  with  authority  to  control  it." 
(1  Black.  Com.,  Introduction,  sec.  ii,  p.  41,  note  3.) 

Now  slavery  annuls  and  tramples  on  all  the  natural  rights 
granted  to  all  men  by  their  Creator.  It  is  a  tremendous  sin ; 
but,  like  many  other  sins,  such  as  murder,  idol  worship,  etc.,  it 
has  been  common  in  all  barbarous  ages  and  nations.  It  is  a 
heathenish  and  barbarous  cruelty,  utterly  inconsistent  with 
enlightened  and  pure  Christianity.  The  following  principles 
of  the  common  law,  in  addition  to  those  given  by  Blackstono, 
may  be  perused  to  advantage,  before  we  proceed  further : 


AND  THE  RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY.  109 

"  The  law  favors  liberty."     (Wood.     Coke.) 

"  What  is  invalid  from  the  beginning,  can  not  be  made 
valid  by  the  length  of  time."  (Noyes'  Maxims,  p.  3.) 

"The  law,  therefore,  which  supports  slavery,  and  opposes 
liberty,  must  necessarily  be  condemned  as  cruel ;  for  every 
feeling  of  human  nature  advocates  liberty.  Slavery  is  in- 
troduced through  human  wickedness ;  but  God  advocates 
liberty  by  the  law  which  he  has  given  to  man.  Wherefore, 
liberty,  torn  from  man,  always  seeks  to  return  to  him ;  and 
it  is  the  same  with  every  thing  which  is  deprived  of  its 
native  freedom.  On  this  account  it  is,  that  the  man  who 
does  not  favor  liberty  must  be  regarded  as  impious  and 
cruel;  and  hence  the  English  law  always  favors  liberty" 
(Chancellor  Fortescue.  De  Caudibus  Legum,  c.  42,  p.  101.) 

4.  Slavery  is  at  variance  with  personal  liberty,  the  abso- 
lute, natural,  inherent  right  of  all  men. 

Slavery  deprives  a  man  of  himself,  and  makes  him  a 
chattel  or  thing.  The  slave,  being  a  "personal  chattel,"  is 
at  all  times  liable  to  be  sold  absolutely,  or  mortgaged,  or 
leased,  at  the  will  of  his  master.  He  may  be  left  by  will 
to  heirs,  and  taken  by  creditors  or  legatees. 

No  restraint,  except  a  partial  one  in  Louisiana,  is  imposed 
upon  the  sale  and  transfer  of  slaves,  not  only  at  the  will  of 
his  master,  but  against  his  will,  as  in  sheriffs'  sales,  when 
the  slaves  are  seized  to  satisfy  debts.  Husbands  and  wives 
are  separated.  Parents  and  children  are  separated. 

The  slave  is  regarded  as  property,  and  sold  as  such,  just 
as  a  horse,  cow,  or  sheep  is  sold.  He  is  sold  by  auction,  at 
the  pleasure  of  the  master,  or  by  the  sheriff  when  seized  as 
debt,  in  connection  with  horses,  cattle,  land,  or  any  thing 
else.  He  may  be  sold  without  any  regard  to  the  relations 
of  husband,  wife,  parent,  child,  brother,  sister.  He  may  be 
bartered  for  goods,  sheep,  horses,  cotton,  or  any  thing  else ; 
and  all  these  things  are  done  constantly  in  the  south.  Ad- 
vertisements of  such  sales  meet  the  eye  in  every  southern 
10 


110  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  SECURITY, 

paper.  And  there  are  in  all  the  regions  of  slavery,  slave- 
merchants,  both  of  the  wholesale  and  retail  classes ;  and 
this  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  system  of  slavery.  And 
whenever  there  are  scruples  of  conscience  against  this  traffic, 
the  scruples  are  properly  against  the  system  of  slavery ;  and 
the  very  existence  of  these  scruples,  which  are  very  common 
among  conscientious  slaveholders,  proves  that  a  good  con- 
science is  at  war  with  slavery,  as  a  sinful  system,  because  it 
provides  for  and  authorizes  such  sales,  and  does  not  prevent 
them. 

Against  this  essential  element  of  slavery,  which  makes 
man  property,  we  furnish  the  following  objections : 

(1.)  The  holding  of  man  as  property  is  contrary  to  the 
right  idea  of  property.  What  one  man  owns  can  not  belong 
to  another.  The  consequence,  then,  of  holding  a  man  as 
property  is,  that  he  can  have  no  right  to  himself.  His 
limbs,  his  mind,  his  strength,  belong  to  another,  and  not  to 
himself;  all  of  which  is  absurd. 

(2.)  The  inalienable  rights  of  man  are  violated  by  slavery, 
especially  his  liberty,  because  he  becomes  entirely  in  the 
power  of  another,  by  the  action  of  slavery ;  and  hence  his 
natural  liberty  is  destroyed. 

(3.)  If  one  man  be  sold  as  property,  so  may  all  men,  or 
any  man ;  for  if  the  right  to  liberty  is  founded,  not  on  the 
essential  attributes  of  men,  as  rational  and  moral  beings, 
but  on  certain  adventitious  circumstances,  then  every  human 
being,  by  a  change  of  circumstances,  may  be  enslaved,  and 
treated  as  property. 

(4.)  Making  men  property  leads  to  treating  them  as 
property.  Hence  the  cruel  and  degrading  treatment  which 
slaves  often  receive  from  their  masters.  They  are  called 
stock;  children  are  called  increase;  mothers  are  called  breed- 
ers. Such  is  the  phraseology  of  slavery.  Mr.  Summers, 
of  Virginia,  in  the  Legislature  of  that  state,  on  January  26, 
1832,  says:  "When,  in  the  sublime  lessons  of  Christianity, 


AND  THE  RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY.  Ill 

he — the  slaveholder — is  taught  to  do  to  others  as  he 
would  have  others  do  to  him,  he  never  dreams  that  the 
degraded  negro  is  within  the  pale  of  that  holy  canon." 
Jefferson,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Coles,  of  August  25,  1814, 
says  of  slaveholders :  "  Nursed  and  educated  in  the  daily 
habit  of  seeing  the  degraded  condition,  both  bodily  and 
mental,  of  these  unfortunate  beings,  few  minds  have  yet 
doubted  that  they  are  as  legitimate  subjects  of  property  as 
their  horses  or  cattle." 

(5.)  Hebrew  servants  were  not  property.  Children  were 
sometimes  taken  for  their  parents'  debts ;  but  there  is  no 
instance  of  servants  seized  for  the  debts  of  their  masters. 
Various  kinds  of  property  were  levied  on  by  creditors ;  ser- 
vants were  not.  Lost  property  was  to  be  restored  to  the 
owner ;  runaway  servants  not.  Since,  therefore,  servants 
were  not  liable  to  the  ordinary  uses  of  property  among  the 
Hebrews,  we  may  conclude  they  were  not  considered 
property. 

If  it  be  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  man  to  deprive  men 
of  their  political  freedom,  the  injustice  is  much  more  flagrant 
when  we  rob  them  of  personal  liberty — as  is  the  case  with 
the  slave.  He  has  no  right  to  his  wife  and  children,  nor 
even  to  himself.  His  very  body,  his  muscles,  his  bones,  his 
flesh,  are  all  the  property  of  another.  The  movements  of 
his  limbs  and  hands  are  regulated  by  the  will  of  his  master. 
If  he  has  mental  qualifications,  skill,  and  dexterity,  these 
too  are  his  master's.  He  may  be  sold  like  a  beast,  or  like 
the  cotton,  or  sugar,  or  rice  which  his  sweat  and  toil  earn. 
,He  may  be  transported  in  chains,  like  a  felon.  He  may  be 
whipped  and  tormented  in  endless  ways  of  punishment. 
Nay,  if  he  is  religious  and  pious,  the  grace  of  God  in  him 
is  also  sold,  and  his  price  is  enhanced  even  by  this  as  well 
as  by  his  muscular  strength,  or  his  superior  skill  in  some 
handcraft.  A  religious  slave  is  of  more  value  than  a  vicious 
one,  and  sells  for  more.  Nay,  if  he  be  a  preacher,  his  value 


112  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  SECURITY, 

is  still  greater,  because  of  his  influence  on  the  morals  and 
industry  of  his  fellow-slaves.  The  deprivation  of  personal 
liberty  is  so  complete  that  it  destroys  the  rights  of  con- 
science. Slavery  arms  the  master  with  power  to  prevent 
his  slave  from  worshiping  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
his  conscience.  The  master  may  legally  restrain  his  slaves 
from,  assembling  to  hear  the  instructions  of  divine  truth. 
The  condition  of  a  subject  is  enviable,  compared  to  that  of  a 
slave.  Theirs  is  a  political  yoke,  and  is  light,  compared 
with  the  heavy  personal  yoke  which  bears  down  the  op- 
pressed slave. 

We  will  here  insert  an  extract  from  Lord  Brougham's 
speech  before  the  British  Parliament,  on  the  subject  of  West 
India  emancipation,  delivered  July  13,  1830;  and  another 
extract  from  Buxton: 

"  Tell  me  not  of  rights.  Talk  not  of  the  property  of  the 
planter  in  his  slaves.  I  deny  the  right.  I  acknowledge  not 
the  property.  The  principles,  the  feelings  of  our  common 
nature  rise  in  rebellion  against  it.  Be  the  appeal  made  to 
the  understanding  or  to  the  heart,  the  sentence  is  the  same 
that  rejects  it.  In  vain  you  tell  me  of  laws  that  sanction 
such  a  claim.  There  is  a  law  above  all  the  enactments  of 
human  codes — the  same  throughout  the  world — the  same 
in  all  times — such  as  it  was  before  the  daring  genius  of 
Columbus  pierced  the  night  of  ages,  and  opened  to  one 
world  sources  of  power,  wealth,  and  knowledge ;  to  another 
all  unutterable  woes :  such  it  is  at  this  day.  It  is  the  law, 
written  by  the  finger  of  God  on  the  heart  of  man ;  and  by 
that  law,  eternal,  unchangeable,  while  men  despise  fraud, 
and  lothe  rapine,  and  abhor  blood,  they  shall  reject  with 
^  indignation  the  wild  and  guilty  fancy,  that  man  can  hold 
property  in  man.  In  vain  you  appeal  to  treaties — to  cove- 
nants between  nations.  The  covenants  of  the  Almighty, 
whether  the  old  covenant  or  the  new,  denounce  such  unholy 
pretensions.  To  those  laws  did  they  of  old  refer,  who 


AND  THE  RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY.  113 

maintained  the  African  trade.  Such  treaties  did  they  cite, 
and  not  untruly ;  for  by  one  shameful  compact  you  bartered 
the  glories  of  Blenheim  for  the  traffic  in  blood.  Yet,  in 
despite  of  law  and  of  treaty,  that  infernal  traffic  is  now 
destroyed,  and  its  votaries  put  to  death,  like  other  pirates. 
How  came  this  change  to  pass?  Not  assuredly  by  Parlia- 
ment leading  the  way ;  but  the  country  at  length  awoke ; 
the  indignation  of  the  people  was  kindled ;  it  descended  in 
thunder,  and  smote  the  traffic,  and  scattered  its  guilty 
profits  to  the  winds.  Now,  then,  let  the  planters  beware ! 
Let  their  assemblies  beware !  Let  the  government  at  home 
beware !  Let  the  Parliament  beware !  The  same  country 
is  once  more  awake — awake  to  the  condition  of  negro 
slavery ;  the  same  indignation  kindles  in  the  bosom  of  the 
same  people ;  the  same  cloud  is  gathering  that  annihilated 
the  slave-trade;  and,  if  it  shall  descend  again,  they  on 
whom  its  crash  may  fall  will  not  be  destroyed  before  I  have 
warned  them ;  but  I  pray  that  their  destruction  may  turn 
away  from  us  the  more  terrible  judgments  of  God !"  (Lon-  >^ 
don  Antislavery  Reporter,  vol.  iii,  pp.  332,  333,  for  July, 
1830.) 

"Is  there  no  difference  between  a  vested  interest  in  a 
house  or  a  tenement  and  a  vested  interest  in  a  human  being  ? 
no  difference  between  a  right  to  brick  and  mortar  and  a 
right  to  the  flesh  of  man  ?  a  right  to  torture  his  body  and  to 
degrade  his  mind  at  your  good  will  and  pleasure  ?  There  is 
this  difference  :  the  right  to  the  house  originates  in  law,  and 
is  reconcilable  to  justice ;  the  claim — for  I  will  not  call  it  a 
right — to  the  man  originated  in  robbery,  and  is  an  outrage 
upon  every  principle  of  justice  and  every  tenet  of  religion." 
(Speech  of  Fowel  Buxton  in  the  British  Parliament.) 

"The  owners  of  slaves  are  licensed  robbers,  and  not  the 
just  proprietors  of  what  they  claim :  freeing  them  is  not  de- 
priving them  of  property,  but  restoring  it  to  the  right  owner. 
It  is  suffering  the  unlawful  captive  to  escape.      It  is  not 
10* 


114  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  SECURITY, 

wronging  the  masters,  but  doing  justice  to  the  slave — 
restoring  him  to  himself.  Emancipation  would  only  take 
away  property  that  is  its  own  property,  and  not  ours — prop- 
erty that  has  the  same  right  to  possess  us  as  we  have  to 
possess  it — property  that  has  the  same  right  to  convert  our 
children  into  dogs,  and  calves,  and  colts,  as  we  have  to  con- 
vert theirs  into  beasts — property  that  may  transfer  our 
children  to  strangers  by  the  same  right  that  we  transfer 
theirs."  (Dr.  Rice,  speech  before  the  Kentucky  Convention 
which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  state.) 

5.  Slavery  is  at  war  with  the  inalienable  natural  right  of 
holding  property  and  enjoying  it. 

It  is  the  absolute,  inherent  right  of  every  man  to  exercise 
the  privilege  of  acquiring,  holding,  enjoying,  and  disposal  of 
all  his  honest  acquisitions,  without  any  control  or  diminution, 
under  such  restraints  of  law  and  constitution  as  preserve 
the  same  inherent  right  in  the  same  degree  to  all  others. 

(1.)  At  the  creation  of  man  God  gave  him,  in  the  distri- 
bution of  his  gifts,  no  right  to  hold  property  in  man;  but 
he  did  give  him  a  right  to  possess  property  in  other  portions 
of  the  creation.  He  gave  man  a  right  to  acquire  and  hold 
property  in  land,  and  in  beasts,  and  to  the  proceeds  of  his 
own  labor.  All  men  are  set  over  the  works  of  God's  hands, 
and  have  an  equal  right  to  acquire  and  hold  property ;  and 
consequently  man  can  not  have  the  right  to  hold  property 
in  his  fellow-men,  or  in  that  which  is  properly  another's. 
The  Bible  is  full  of  denunciations  against  those  who  with- 
hold from  others  the  fruit  of  their  exertions.  "Woe  unto 
him  that  buildeth  his  house  by  unrighteousness  and  his 
chambers  by  wrong ;  that  useth  his  neighbor's  service  with- 
out wages,  and  giveth  him  not  for  his  work,"  Jer.  xxii,  13. 
See  also  James  v,  4;  Lev.  xix,  13;  Deut.  xxiv,  14,  15.  A 
wrong  act  does  not  become  right  because  it  is  practiced 
often  and  on  thousands ;  nor  because  it  is  done  systematic- 
ally and  by  authority  of  the  laws  of  the  land.  None  of 


AND  THE  RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY.  115 

these  things  can  excuse  us  for  wronging  our  neighbor  of  the 
fruit  of  his  labor. 

(2.)  "Slaves  havi li  in!  ilphh  iif-TTTi7[ii  i(j  in  things 

real  or  personal,  and  whatever  frjpaity  they  may  acquire  be- 
longs, in  point  of  law,  to  their  master."  (Stroud,  pp.  45—50.) 
This  is  the  substance  of  the  slave  laws,  with  scarcely  any 
modifications  from  the  stern  proposition  in  which  Mr. 
Stroud  expresses  it,  as  any  one  may  see,  who  will  consult 
the  authorities  quoted  or  cited  by  him;  and  all  this  is 
confirmed  by  the  decisions  of  courts.  The  general  practice, 
too,  comports  with  law  and  the  judicial  decisions;  and 
those  who  practice  differently  are  suspected,  and  must  act 
with  due  caution,  or,  at  least,  they  act  independently,  or  in 
opposition  to  the  laws  in  the  case. 

As  stated  above,  nothing  is  clearer,  from  the  Bible,  than 
that  a  man  has  a  right  to  the  avails  of  his  own  labor. 
This,  in  reason,  is  founded  on  the  right  a  man  has  to 
himself,  and,  of  course,  to  all  that  he  himself  can  honestly 
acquire.  But  as  slavery  deprives  a  man  of  himself,  it,  of 
necessity,  deprives  its  victim  of  the  exercise  of  himself,  and 
all  the  fruits  of  that  exercise.  We  may  notice  the  extent 
of  this  robbery,  in  some  of  its  leading  particulars.  In 
general,  slaves  are  deprived  of  the  comforts  and  conven- 
iences of  life,  suitable  to  rational,  intelligent,  and  moral 
beings.  We  will  notice  some  of  the  particulars  embraced 
jnder  this  general  head. 

(3.)  "The  master  may  determine  the  kind,  and  degree, 
and  time  of  labor,  to  which  the  slave  shall  be  subjected." 
(Stroud,  pp.  26-30.) 

In  most  of  the  slaveholding  states  the  laws  are  silent  on 
the  time  employed  in  labor — the  states  of  Georgia,  South 
Carolina,  Louisiana,  and  Mississippi  excepted. 

The  law  of  Georgia  forbids  "the  requiring  greater  labor 
from  such  slave  or  slaves  than  he,  she,  or  they  are  able  to 
perform."  But,  as  the  testimony  of  a  colored  person  can 


110  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  SECURITY, 

not  be  received  against  a  white  person,  and  because  the 
charge,  in  this  case,  is  of  a  criminal  nature,  every  thing 
must  be  strictly  proved.  The  law  itself  must  be  construed 
strictly.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to  convict  the  master  in 
such  cases. 

In  the  negro  act  of  South  Carolina,  of  1740,  the  pre- 
amble declares,  "  WJiereas,  many  owners  of  slaves,  and 
others  who  have  the  care,  management,  and  overseeing  of 
slaves,  do  confine  them  so  closely  to  hard  labor,  that  they 
have  not  sufficient  time  for  natural  rest."  The  act  then 
prescribes  the  labor  not  to  exceed  "fifteen  hours  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  from  the  25th  of  March  to  the  25th  day  of 
September;  or  more  than  fourteen  hours  in  twenty-four 
hours,  from  the  25th  day  of  September  to  the  25th  day  of 
March;"  and  the  penalty  for  such  offense  is  from  five  to 
twenty  pounds  currency. 

In  Louisiana,  "  the  slaves  shall  be  allowed  half  an  hour 
for  breakfast,  during  the  whole  year.  From  the  1st  day 
of  May  to  the  1st  day  of  November  they  shall  be  allowed 
two  hours  for  dinner;  and  from  the  1st  day  of  November 
to  the  1st  day  of  May,  one  hour  and  a  half  for  dinner. 
Provided,  however,  that  the  owners  who  will  themselves 
take  the  trouble  of  causing  to  be  prepared  the  meals  of 
their  slaves,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  abridge 
by  half  an  hour  per  day  the  time  fixed  for  their  rest." 
The  laws  of  both  Louisiana  and  South  Carolina,  as  well  as 
those  of  Georgia,  are  wholly  inoperative,  and  must  give 
way  before  the  cupidity  of  the  master." 

The  fifteen  hours  a  day  allowed  by  South  Carolina  is  an 
excessive  amount  of  labor.  The  hard-working  laborers  of 
Europe  are  mostly  confined  to  ten  hours  a  day.  The  Leg- 
islatures of  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Georgia  have  decided 
that  convicts  shall  not  work  more  than  "eight  hours  in  the 
months  of  November,  December,  and  January;  nine  hours 
in  the  months  of  February  and  October;  and  ten  hours  in 


AND  THE  RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY.  117 

the  rest  of  the  year."  Thus  the  convicts  in  prisons,  who 
are  convicted  felons,  whose  PUNISHMENT  was  designed  to 
consist  principally  of  HARD  LABOR,  are  not  worked  over  ten 
hours  a  day  at  most,  and  on  an  average  about  nine.  Yet 
the  slave  of  South  Carolina,  under  a  law  professing  to  ex- 
tend humanity  toward  him,  may  be  subjected  to  unremitting 
toil  for  fifteen  hours  within  the  same  period. 

(4.)  Slavery  deprives  a  man  of  the  fruits  of  his  own 
labor.  The  labor  of  the  hands  is  the  principal  source  of 
profit  to  a  very  large  portion  of  the  human  family ;  and  to 
deprive  them  of  this  is  to  deprive  them  of  every  thing. 
And  were  it  even  true,  that  the  slave  does  less  work  than 
the  free  laborer,  the  case  is  not  altered;  because  slavery 
robs  a  man  of  the  fruit  of  what  he  does,  whether  more  or 
less.  To  say  he  has  an  equivalent  in  food  and  clothing,  is 
not  true ;  because  no  master  apportions  work  in  proportion 
to  the  value  of  food  and  clothing.  Nor  will  it  do  to  affirm 
that  the  equivalent  is  rendered  to  the  wife  and  children  of 
the  slave;  because  the  slave  properly  has  no  wife  or  children, 
for  these  belong  to  his  master.  Nor  will  the  equivalent 
be  rendered  by  provision  for  sickness  or  old  age;  because 
the  slave  never  agreed  to  work  all  his  days  for  such  a  con- 
sideration ;  and  the  master  exacts  for  himself  and  his  family 
an  excess  beyond  the  remuneration  that  would  be  paid  in 
food,  clothing,  and  the  other  considerations  mentioned  above. 
The  labor  of  the  slave  is  exacted  that  the  master  and  his 
family  should  live  by  it,  and  that  they  might  live  in  luxury 
and  idleness.  The  slave  must  work  hard  and  be  always 
poor,  that  his  master  and  family  may  be  rich  and  idle.  It 
is  true,  the  slave  can  not  be  made  to  do  the  work  of  a  free- 
man, because  he  wants  the  spirit  and  motive  of  a  freeman. 

(5.)  The  slave  is  not  only  made  property  himself,  de- 
prived of  the  right  to  hold  property,  and  robbed  of  the 
fruits  of  his  own  labor,  but,  as  a  consequence,  he  is  de- 
prived of  the  comfortable  enjoyments  of  life.  His  food, 


118  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  SECURITY, 

his  clothing,  his  dwelling — every  thing  pertaining  to  him — 
are  all  of  inferior  quality.  His  clothing  is  mostly  of  poor 
quality,  or  such  as  his  master  deems  dishonorable  longer  to 
wear.  His  dwelling  is  rude,  uncomfortable,  as  the  mere 
arbitrary  gift  of  his  master.  His  food  is  either  scanty  or 
of  inferior  quality ;  or  if  good,  it  is  mostly  the  offals  of  his 
master's  table. 

(6.)  Slavery  deprives  men  of  wages.  This  is  every- where 
in  Scripture  forbidden. 

(Y.)  Hence,  slavery  is  a  system  of  robbery.  The  master 
may  not  design  this,  or  be  conscious  of  having  done  such 
a  wrong  to  the  slave.  As  the  slave,  according  to  slave 
laws,  is  considered  as  having  nothing,  the  slaveholder  does 
not  suspect  himself  of  robbery.  It  is  not,  however,  true, 
that  the  slave  possesses  nothing;  for  he  has  a  soul  and 
body,  the  gift  of  God ;  and,  as  his  soul  and  body  are  his 
own,  so  also  is  his  mental  skill  and  bodily  force  his  own; 
and  the  fruit  of  his  labor  is  his  own.  To  take  these 
from  the  slave — the  fruit  of  his  labor  and  skill — is  in  fact 
to  rob  him.  To  take  from  a  man  his  whole  estate,  the  fruits 
of  years  of  toil,  would  be  a  great  wrong.  But  this  would 
be  a  small  offense  compared  with  seizing  the  man  himself, 
and  appropriating  to  our  use  his  limbs,  faculties,  strength, 
labor,  by  which  all  property  is  obtained. 

Nor  can  it  be  justly-said  that  the  slave  receives  an  equiv- 
alent, that  he  is  fed  and  clothed,  and  is  not,  therefore, 
robbed.  But  suppose  another  to  wrest  from  us  a  valuable 
possession,  and  pay  his  own  price — we  would  think  ourselves 
robbed,  and  the  law  would  pronounce  such  a  man  a  robber. 
Besides,  will  the  supposed  equivalent  be  any  thing  like  just, 
when  the  laborer  himself  is  held  as  property,  and  all  his 
earnings  are  declared  to  be  the  property  of  his  master? 

If  it  be  said  that  many  masters  do  render  an  equivalent 
for  the  labor  of  the  slave,  as  to  property — no  doubt  this  is 
true  in  some  respects — still,  human  rights  are  denied.  The 


AND    THE    RIGHT    OF    PROPERTY.  119 

slave  lies  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  another ;  and  this,  in  most 
cases,  will  result  in  wrong.  Besides,  there  can  be  no  equiv- 
alent for  owning  the  slave  himself,  except  to  restore  him  to 
himself;  that  is,  by  setting  him  free.  To  pay  him  for  his 
labor  merely,  will  barely  discharge  the  debt  due  to  labor, 
and  this  alone.  His  restoration  to  liberty  is  the  only  equiv- 
alent that  can  be  rendered  for  the  wrong  of  slavery,  which 
robs  a  man  of  himself  first,  and  then  proceeds  next  to 
deprive  him  of  the  fruits  of  his  labor. 

6.  Slavery  is  at  variance  with  the  right  of  personal  secu- 
rity. Personal  security,  an  absolute,  inalienable  right  of 
man,  secures  to  him  the  free  and  uninterrupted  enjoyment 
of  his  life,  his  limbs,  his  body,  his  health,  and  his  reputation. 

Life  is  the  immediate  gift 'of  God,  and  is  a  right  inherent 
by  nature  in  every  individual. 

A  man's  limbs,  as  well  as  his  other  members,  are  also  the 
gift  of  God,  to  enable  him  to  protect  and  provide  for  him- 
self and  family. 

The  life  and  members  of  a  man  are  of  such  high  value 
in  the  estimation  of  all  just  law,  that  it  pardons  homicide 
if  committed  in  order  to  protect  them.  And  even  deeds  and 
contracts  formally  executed,  if  forced  by  a  well-grounded 
apprehension  of  losing  life  or  members  of  the  body,  in  case 
of  non-compliance,  may  be  afterward  voided.  Just  law 
not  only  regards  life  and  members,  and  protects  every  man 
in  the  enjoyment  of  them,  but  also  furnishes  him  with  every 
thing  necessary  for  their  support. 

The  natural  life,  being  the  immediate  gift  of  God,  can 
not  justly  be  disposed  of  or  destroyed  by  any  individual, 
neither  by  the  person  himself  nor  by  any  other  of  his  fel- 
low-creatures, merely  upon  their  own  authority.  Yet,  by 
the  Divine  permission  it  may  be  forfeited  for  the  breach  of 
those  laws  of  society  which  arc  enforced  by  the  Divine 
authority,  and  called  capital  punishments. 

The  security  of  his  reputation  or  good  name  from  the 


120  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  AND  RIGHT  O'F  PROPERTY. 

arts  of  detraction  and  slander,  are  rights  to  which  every 
man  is  entitled  by  reason  and  natural  justice ;  since  without 
these  it  is  impossible  to  have  the  perfect  enjoyment  of  any 
other  advantage  or  right.  (See  Blackstone,  book  i,  pp. 
129-134.) 

The  laws  of  slavery  have  little  regard  to  the  security  of 
life,  the  members  of  the  body,  health,  and  reputation  of  the 
slave,  that  he  may  enjoy  them ;  and  hence  these,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  ownership  of  them  by  the  slave,  are  held  in 
low  esteem  by  slave  laws,  and,  therefore,  are  slightly  secured 
to  their  rightful  owner,  or,  rather,  they  are  not  thus  secured 
at  all.  The  principal  security  for  the  life,  body,  health,  and 
reputation  of  the  slave  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  master, 
either  to  enrich  him,  or  accommodate  him,  or  minister  to 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION.  121 


CHAPTER  II. 

DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION. 

1.  THE    benefits   of   education   are  withheld   from   the 
slave.     This  is  done  by  express  statutary  laws,  making  it 
penal  to  teach  him  to  read  or  write,  or  aid  in  doing  it,  or 
causing  it  to  be  done,  as  no  provisions  are  made  for  the 
instruction  of  the  slave.     Or  where  no  express  laws  forbid 
instruction,  custom  governs,  and  the  custom  is  to  let  the 
slaves  grow  up  without  any  instruction  from  books.    Hence, 
the  general  sentiment  in  the  slave  states,  whether  produced 
by  law  or  usage,  or  both,  well  comports  with  what  Sir 
William  Berkley,  Governor  of  Virginia  in  1671,  said:  "I 
thank  God  that  there  are  no  free  schools   nor  printing- 
presses,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  them  these  hundred 
years." 

In  no  country  is  education  more  highly  valued,  or  its 
benefits  more  generally  diffused,  than  in  the  United  States. 
The  constitutions  of  nearly  all  the  states  provide  for  semin- 
aries and  schools,  adequate  to  the  wants  of  all.  And  the 
common  schools  of  the  free  states  are  truly  the  colleges  of 
the  people. 

2.  A  different  policy  grew  up  with  the  growth  of  the 
slave  states.     In  none  of  these  is  there  any  provision  made 
by  law,  for  the  education  of  persons  of  color,  whether 
slaves  or  freemen.     On  the  contrary,  the  benefits  of  educa- 
tion are  withheld  from  the  slave,  and,  of  consequence,  from 
the  free  colored  man. 

South  Carolina  was  first  in  legislation  to  continue  the 
ignorance  of  the  slaves.  As  early  as  1740,  this  state,  by 
statute,  enacted  that  slaves  should  not  be  taught  to  read  or 
write,  or  employed  as  scribes  in  any  manner  of  writing,  un- 
der the  penalty  of  £100  fine.  (Stroud,  p.  88.) 

In  1800  South  Carolina  enacted,  that  it  would  be  an 
11 


122  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION. 

"  unlawful  assembly "  for  any  slaves  or  free  negroes,  either 
by  themselves  or  with  white  persons,  "to  meet  together  for 
the  purpose  of  mental  instruction,"  under  a  penalty  of 
"twenty  lashes  upon  such  slaves,"  etc.  (Stroud,  p.  89.) 

But  the  law  of  South  Carolina,  which  took  effect  April, 
1834,  and  passed  the  previous  winter,  entitled  "an  act  to 
amend  the  laws  in  relation  to  slaves  and  free  persons  of 
color,"  seems  to  be  a  union  of  all  the  former  laws  of  South 
Carolina  in  this  matter.  We  make  the  following  extracts 
from  this  barbarous  act: 

"Section  1.  Be  it  by  the  honorable  the  senate,  and  the 
house  of  representatives,  now  met  and  sitting  in  General 
Assembly,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same  be  it  enacted : 
If  any  person  shall  hereafter  teach  any  slave  to  read  or 
write,  or  shall  aid  or  assist  in  teaching  any  slave  to  read  or 
write,  such  person,  if  a  free  white  person,  upon  conviction 
thereof,  shall,  for  each  and  every  offense  against  this  act,  be 
fined  not  exceeding  $100,  and  imprisoned  not  more  than  six 
months ;  or,  if  a  free  person  of  color,  shall  be  whipped  not 
exceeding  fifty  lashes,  and  fined  not  exceeding  $50,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  court  of  magistrates  and  freeholders  before 
which  such  free  person  is  tried;  and  if  a  slave,  shall  be 
whipped  at  the  discretion  of  the  court,  not  exceeding  fifty 
lashes;  the  informer  to  be  entitled  to  one-half  of  the  fine, 
and  to  be  a  competent  witness.  And  if  any  free  person  of 
color  or  slave  shall  keep  any  school  or  other  place  of  in- 
struction, for  teaching  any  slave  or  free  person  of  color  to 
read  or  write,  such  free  person  of  color  or  slave  shall  be 
liable  to  the  same  fine,  imprisonment,  and  corporeal  punish- 
ment, as  are  by  this  section  imposed  and  inflicted  on  free 
persons  of  color  and  slaves  for  teaching  slaves  to  read  or 
write. 

"  Sec.  2.  If  any  person  shall  employ  or  keep  as  a  clerk, 
any  slave  or  free  person  of  color,  or  shall  permit  any  slave 
or  free  person  of  color  to  act  as  a  clerk  or  salesman  in  or 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS — EDUCATION.  123 

about  any  shop,  store,  or  house  used  for  trading,  such  person 
shall  be  liable  to  be  indicted  therefor,  and,  upon  conviction 
thereof,  shall  be  fined,  for  each  and  every  offense,  not  exceed- 
ing one  hundred  dollars,  and  be  imprisoned  not  exceeding 
six  months ;  the  informer  to  be  a  competent  witness,  and  to 
be  entitled  to  one-half  of  the  fine." 

The  things  intended  to  be  prevented  by  this  act  are,  that 
no  colored  person,  whether  free  or  a  slave,  shall  learn  to 
read  or  write,  or  be  clerks  or  salesmen. 

The  acts  punishable  according  to  the  act  are,  "  to  teach, 
or  aid  or  assist  in  teaching  colored  persons  to  read  or  write, 
or  to  employ  them  as  clerks  or  salesmen." 

The  penalties  inflicted  on  whites  for  transgressing  this  law 
are  a  fine  of  $100,  and  six  months'  imprisonment.  Tne 
penalty  on  a  free  colored  person  is  whipping,  not  to  exceed 
fifty  lashes,  and  fine,  not  to  exceed  fifty  dollars ;  and  on  a 
slave,  fifty  lashes. 

An  act  was  passed  in  Georgia  in  1770  similar  to  that 
passed  in  South  Carolina  in  1740,  with  the  difference  that 
the  fine  in  Georgia  was  £20,  in  the  place  of  £100. 

Virginia,  in  her  revised  code  of  1819,  reiterates  former 
laws,  as  follows:  "That  all  meetings  or  assemblages  of 
slaves,  or  free  negroes  or  mulattoes  mixing  and  associating 
with  such  slaves  at  any  meeting-house,  or  houses,  or  any 
other  place,  etc.,  in  the  night,  or  at  any  school  or  schools 
for  teaching  them  reading  or  writing,  either  in  the  day  or 
night,  under  whatsoever  pretext,  shall  be  deemed  an  unlaw- 
ful assembly."  (Stroud,  p.  88.)  This  practically  amounts 
to  the  same  with  the  laws  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

And  in  those  states  where  laws  may  not  be  as  stringent 
as  those  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  custom  has  become 
the  law,  and  this  is  universally  against  the  instruction  of  the 
negro. 

Besides,  the  life  of  the  slave  is  entirely  devoted  to  the 
service  of  his  master,  so  that  his  time  and  attention  are 


124  DEPRIVATION  OF  EIGHTS EDUCATION. 

constantly  devoted  to  his  service.  Laws  make  not  only  no 
provision  for  the  instruction  of  the  slave,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, forbid  it.  The  slave  has  neither  books,  instructor,  nor 
encouragement  to  learn  to  read.  Hence,  he  is  doomed  to 
remain  forever  ignorant  of  the  benefits  of  education. 

3.  The  result  of  this  treatment,  as  might  be  expected,  is, 
that  the  slaves  grow  up  in  ignorance. 

In  the  eighth  annual  report  for  1842,  of  the  Association 
for  the  religious  instruction  of  the  negroes  in  Liberty  county, 
Georgia,  we  tind  the  following  statements  from  the  slave- 
holders themselves :  "  The  ignorance  of  those  who  have  not 
been  brought  up  in  the  Sunday  schools — and  of  such  we 
have  a  large  number — is  astonishingly  great,  and  my  spirit 
sinks  within  me  when  I  behold  it,  and  see  how  little  is  done 
to  remove  it,"  (p.  6.)  "They  [the  negroes]  are  exceed- 
ingly ignorant,  as  a  people,  and  consequently  whatever  there 
may  be  in  outward  appearance  to  strike  the  eye,  is  calculated 
to  produce  more  impression  upon  them  than  the  most  pal- 
pable fact  in  the  abstract,"  (p.  14.) 

The  synod  of  Kentucky,  in  1835,  held,  in  their  address, 
the  following  language  in  reference  to  the  education  of 
slaves  in  Kentucky :  "The  present  state  of  instruction  among 
this  race  answers  exactly  to  what  we  might  thus  naturally 
anticipate.  Throughout  our  whole  land,  so  far  as  we  can 
learn,  there  is  but  one  school  in  which,  during  the  week, 
slaves  can  be  taught.  The  light  of  three  or  four  Sabbath 
schools  is  seen,  glimmering  through  the  darkness  that  covers 
the  black  population  of  a  whole  state.  Here  and  there  a 
family  is  found,  where  humanity  and  religion  impel  the  mas 
ter,  mistress,  or  children,  to  the  laborious  task  of  private 
instruction.  But,  after  all,  what  is  the  utmost  amount  of 
instruction  given  to  slaves?  Those  who  enjoy  the  most  of 
it  are  fed  with  but  the  crumbs  of  knowledge  which  fall  from 
their  master's  table — they  are  clothed  with  the  mere*shreds 
and  tatters  of  learning."  (Pp.  7,  8.) 


earning. 

— 7 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION.  125 

4.  The  interests  of  the  master  prevent  the  education  of 
the  slave.     The  masters  will  ordinarily  do  nothing  for  the 
instruction  of  the  slaves  beyond  what  is  necessary  to  make 
them  profitable  instruments  in  their  hands.     The  arts  of 
reading  and  writing,  the  elements  of  education,  are  ac- 
quirements which  can  not  be  allowed  to  the  slave  without 
diminishing  his  value  as  a  laborer,  facilitating  his  escape  from 
bondage,  and  periling  the  life  of  his  master :  so  that  custom, 
if  not  the  law  of  the  land,  commonly  deprives  him  of  edu- 
cation.    Besides,  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  requires,  on 
the  part  of  its  possessor,  both  motive  and  exertion ;  and  the 
man  who  is  to  continue  through  life  in  bondage  has  no 
adequate  motive  of  interest  to  induce  him  to  the  necessary 
exertion ;  for  knowledge  or  skill  is  not  valuable  to  him,  as 
to  one  who  reaps  the  benefits  of  his  attainments.     Further- 
more, the  acquisition  of  knowledge  also  requires  facilities  of 
books,  teachers,  and  time,  which  depend  on  the  will  of  the 
master;    and  those  who  desire  to  perpetuate  slavery  will 
never  furnish  these  facilities. 

Hence,  if  slaves  are  educated  it  must  increase  the  expense 
on  the  part  of  the  master.  But  the  true  slaveholder  looks 
on  the  slave  as  his  property,  and  every  dollar  expended  on 
him  he  esteems  as  lost,  unless  it  contributes  to  increase  his 
capacity  for  yielding  him  valuable  service.  The  master  will 
have  them  taught  to  work,  and  will  ordinarily  clothe  and 
feed  them,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  perform  their  work  to 
advantage.  More  than  this  need  not  be  expected ;  and  when 
philanthrophy  would  do  more,  stern  prohibitory  statutes, 
or  the  stronger  force  of  general  custom,  prevent  the  educa- 
tion, not  only  of  the  slaves,  but  of  all  colored  persons. 

5.  But  slavery  deprives  its  victim  of  the  inalienable  right 
of  education.     The  privilege  of  reading  and  of  acquiring 
knowledge  is  a  most  valuable  gift  to  those  who  are  obliged 
to  devote  themselves,  for  the  most  part,  to  manual  labor. 
But  law  and  sterner  custom  make  no  provision  for  the 

11* 


126  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION. 

instruction  of  the  slave  laborer ;  nay,  the  severest  penalties 
are  incurred  by  those  who-even  aid  in  the  good  work.  And 
then  the  very  ignorance,  stupidity,  and  sensuality,  induced 
by  this  unjust  treatment,  are  pleaded  as  reasons  why  they 
should  be  thus  degraded  forever. 

6.  The  withholding  of  instruction  is  directly  contrary  to 
the  Bible.  The  following  texts  declare  this  very  clearly : 
"  That  the  soul  be  without  knowledge,  it  is  not  good,"  Prov. 
xix,  2.  Our  Lord  pronounced  a  woe  upon  the  Jewish  teach- 
ers because  they  took  away  the  key  of  knowledge.  "  Woe 
unto  you,  lawyers  !  for  ye  have  taken  away  the  key  of 
knowledge:  ye  entered  not  in  yourselves,  and  them  that 
were  entering  in  ye  hindered,"  Luke  xi,  52.  And  how  can 
those  obey  the  following  command  of  Christ,  when  they  are 
debarred  from  reading  the  Scriptures  for  want  of  the 
knowledge  of  reading:  "  Search  the  Scriptures?"  John  v,  39. 
According  to  the  old  Testament,  all  were  privileged  to 
acquire  knowledge  without  any  restraint.  Nay,  on  the 
contrary,  all  were  encouraged  to  acquire  knowledge,  because 
of  the  great  advantages  to  be  derived  from  it.  Indeed, 
every  place  in  Scripture  proclaims  the  excellence  of  truth, 
and  the  knowledge  of  truth;  and  constant  exertions  are 
enjoined  in  order  to  acquire  knowledge.  And  a  state  of 
ignorance  is  in  Scripture  constantly  condemned ;  and  many 
of  the  instrumentalities  of  the  Gospel,  such  as  preaching, 
teaching,  and  the  •written  word,  are  expressly  given  and 
authoritatively  enjoined,  in  order  to  remove  the  ignorance 
of  mankind. 

The  inference  is  therefore  plain,  that  the  laws  and  the 
customs  of  the  slave  states,  either  in  forbidding  or  in  not 
providing  and  enjoining  that  the  slaves  be  educated,  arc 
contrary  to  the  Bible.  Or,  to  vary  the  expression,  the 
Bible  is  essentially  opposed  to  slavery.  That  is,  laws  are 
necessary  to  support  the  system  of  slavery,  which  are 
directly  opposed  to  the  principles  of  the  word  of  God. 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION.  127 

A.nd  slaveholding  legislators  believe  that  if  these  laws 
should  be  repealed,  the  system  could  not  stand.  This  can 
not  be  denied  by  any  one.  What  a  terrible  overthrow 
would  a  good  system  of  common  schools,  and  a  free  press, 
among  the  slaves,  do  in-the  slave  states!  Slavery  could 
not  live  two  generations  under  such  an  influence. 

But  slaveholders  have  no  real  belief  that  slavery  is  sanc- 
tioned by  the  Bible.  If  they  believed  so,  the  best  thing 
they  could  do  would  be  to  teach  all  their  slaves  to  read  the 
Bible.  If  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  is  one  recognized 
in  the  Bible,  then  the  Bible  is  the  right  book  to  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  slaves;  and  the  slave  should  immediately 
be  taught  to  read,  that  he  may  read  the  Bible,  which,  they 
say,  sanctions  slavery.  If  the  Bible  never  speaks  of  slavery 
as  sinful,  then  the  best  thing  that  could  be  done  to  support 
slavery  would  be  to  teach  all  the  slaves  to  read  it,  that 
slavery  may  have  the  sanction  of  the  Bible,  as  some  pretend 
to  affirm  that  it  has. 

7.  The  want  of  education  among  the  slaves  has  a  most 
disastrous  influence  on  their  character.  The  bad  tree  of 
slavery,  in  this,  produces  bad  fruit.  Knowledge  is  a  part 
of  God's  image  in  man ;  for  this  image  consisted  in  knowl- 
edge, righteousness,  and  true  holiness.  God  gave  man  in- 
tellectual power  that  it  might  be  cultivated ;  and  the  system 
which,  degrades  it  is  not  of  God.  The  slave,  though  living 
in  a  land  of  light,  dwells  in  darkness.  "No  parent  feels 
the  duty  of  instructing  him.  No  teacher  is  provided  for 
him,  but  the  driver,  who  breaks  him  almost  in  childhood  to 
the  servile  tasks  which  are  to  fill  up  his  life.  No  book  is 
opened  to  his  youthful  curiosity.  As  he  advances  in  years, 
no  new  excitements  supply  the  place  of  teachers.  He  is 
not  cast  on  himself — made  to  depend  on  his  own  energies. 
No  striving  prizes  in  life  awaken  his  dormant  faculties.  Fed 
and  clothed  by  others  like  a  child,  directed  in  every  step, 
doomed  for  life  to  a  monotonous  round  of  labor,  he  lives 


128  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION. 

and  dies  without  spring  to  his  powers,  often  brutally  un- 
conscious of  his  spiritual  nature.  Nor  is  this  all.  When 
benevolence  would  approach  him  with  instruction,  it  is 
repelled.  He  is  not  allowed  to  be  taught.  The  light  is 
jealously  barred  out.  The  voice,  which  would  speak  to 
him  as  a  man,  is  put  to  silence.  He  must  not  even  be  ena- 
bled to  read  the  word  of  God.  His  immortal  spirit  is  sys- 
tematically crushed."  (Channing  on  Slavery,  p.  75.) 

The  following  sentiment,  by  Chancellor  Harper,  of  South 
Carolina,  on  slavery,  in  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger, 
October,  1838,  is  not  correct:  "It  is  by  the  existence  of 
slavery,  exempting  so  large  a  portion  of  our  citizens  'from 
the  necessity  of  bodily  labor,  that  we  have  leisure  for  intel- 
lectual pursuits  and  the  means  of  attaining  a  liberal  educa- 
tion." The  statistics  of  literature  will  contradict  this  high 
assumption  of  the  Chancellor.  But  whatever  may  be  the 
leisure  and  attainments  of  southern  slaveholders,  the  edu- 
cation of  poor  white  persons  is  not  provided  for.  Hence, 
their  very  ignorance  renders  them  the  more  fit  instruments 
for  doing  the  will,  and  guarding  the  human  property  of  the 
wealthier  class.  On  the  contrary,  where  slavery  does  not 
exist,  the  people  literally  partake  in  the  government,  and 
mighty  efforts  are  made  in  behalf  of  general  education. 
And  the  present  state  of  New  England  is  no  more  than  a 
good  beginning  in  what  will  yet  be  done  in  the  free  states, 
both  in  and  out  of  New  England. 

8.  But  it  may  be  well  to  see  some  of  the  reasons  which 
slaveholders  give  for  preventing  the  intellectual  improve- 
ment of  the  slaves. 

We  may  place  foremost  in  the  list  the  Rev.  James  Smylie, 
of  the  Mississippi  presbytery,  who  wrote,  Feb.  15,  1836,  a 
reply  to  the  letter  of  the  Chilicothe  presbytery,  dated 
Nov.  28, 1835.  In  reply  to  the  resolution  of  the  Chilicothe 
presbytery,  which  affirms  that  a  Church  member  is  guilty 
of  a  great  sin,  and  ought  to  be  dealt  with  as  for  other 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION.  120 

scandalous  crimes,  "who  shall  advocate  or  speak  in  favor 
of  such  laws  as  have  been,  or  may  yet  be  enacted,  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  the  slaves  in  ignorance,  and  preventing 
them  from  reading  the  word  of  God,"  Mr.  Smylie  utters 
the  following  sentiments.  .  After  stating  that  the  legislators 
of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  never  passed  laws  to  foster 
ignorance  of  the  word  of  God,  but  that  these  states  have 
"laws,  accompanied  with  heavy  penal  sanctions,  prohibiting 
the  teaching  of  slaves  to  read,  and  meeting  the  religious 
part  of  the  reflecting  community,"  he  states  as  follows: 

"  The  passage  of  these  laws,  however  hard  their  bearing 
on  slaves,  is  a  necessary  effect,  produced,  as  might  have 
been  foreseen,  from  an  adequate  cause.  .  .  .  The  laws 
preventing  slaves  from  learning  to  read  are  a  fruitful  source 
of  much  ignorance  and  immorality  among  slaves.  The 
printing,  publishing,  and  circulating  abolition  and  emanci- 
pating papers  in  those  states,  were  the  cause  of  the  passage 
of  the  laws.  The  ignorance  and  immorality  occasioned  by 
the  laws,  must  legitimately  be  saddled  on  the  laws,  as  the 
effect  must  be  saddled  on  the  cause.  But  the  laws  them- 
selves are  an  effect!  Where,  then,  must  they  be  saddled, 
with  all  the  accumulated  weight  of  guilt,  but  upon  the 
cause?  even  upon  the  back  of  abolitionists  and  emancipa- 
tors? Upon  whom,  now,  will  they  saddle  them  legiti- 
mately ?  Upon  such  great  and  good  men  as  John  Wesley, 
Jonathan  Edwards,  Bishop  Porteus,  Paley,  Horsley,  Scott, 
Clarke,  Wilberforce,  Sharp,  Clarkson,  Fox,  Johnson,  Burke, 
and  a  host  of  as  good,  if  not  equally-great  men,  of  later 
date."  (P.  63.) 

"The  Legislatures,  however,  in  view  of  the  'WEEPING, 
AND  WAILING,  AND  GNASHING  OF  TEETH'  of  northern  aboli- 
tionists,  and  in  view  of  the  antiscriptural  doctrines,  which 
they  were  publishing  and  circulating  with  a  zeal  worthy 
of  a  better  cause,  have  enacted  laws,  with  heavy  penal 
sanctions,  for  the  purpose,  not,  as  basely  represented,  for 


130  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION. 

keeping  the  slaves  in  ignorance  of  the  word  of  God,  but 
for  keeping  them  ignorant  of  antiscriptural  doctrines — 
doctrines  which,  however  dressed  and  decorated  with  the 
garb  of  ecclesiastical  sanctity,  and  plausible  but  spurious 
sympathy,  are,  nevertheless,  like  the  blasting  mildew,  with- 
ering and  blighting  every  growing  and  nourishing  vine  in 
our  beloved  country. 

"I  say  abolition  and  emancipating;  for,  as  Dr.  Proudfit, 
Secretary  of  the  New  York  Colonization  Society,  very  justly 
remarks,  'they  are  one  in  object,  differing  merely  in  the 
mode  of  accomplishing  that  object.' 

"Abolitionists  are  aiming  with  one  swoop  to  destroy 
their  prey,  while  emancipators,  more  insinuating,  prefer  to 
cut  its  throat  gradually.  The  object  of  neither  emancipators 
nor  abolitionists  is  to  make  the  masters  better  by  getting 
the  Gospel  to  bear  upon  them,  and  thus  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  slaves,  like  Christ  and  his  apostles,  but  to  run 
beyond  them,  and,  if  possible,  double-distance  them  on  the 
field  of  Christian  improvement."  (Pp.  67,  68.) 

Dr.  Fuller,  in  his  reply  to  Way  land,  p.  140,  says:  "As 
to  intellectual  cultivation,  the  laboring  population  in  all 
countries  have  but  little  taste  or  time  for  literature ;  but  if 
our  slaves  were  taught  to  read,  I  know  no  class  of  people 
employed  in  manual  industry  who  would  have  more  leisure 
for  books." 

9.  It  is  said  that  the  ignorance  of  the  slave  is  necessary 
for  the  protection  of  the  master.  This  is  true;  and  it  is 
humiliating  that  slavery  has  ever  existed,  when  it  is  such  a 
barrier  to  human  improvement.  Slavery  and  knowledge 
can  not  live  together.  To  enlighten  the  slave  is  to  break 
his  chains.  Could  he  read,  he  would  soon  find  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  "  that  all  men  are  created  free 
and  equal."  All  knowledge  furnishes  arguments  against 
slavery.  The  weakness  and  ignorance  of  then-  victims  form 
the  only  safe  foundation  on  which  injustice  and  oppression 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION.  131 

can  rest.  Slaveholders  know  that  universal  education  must 
eventuate  in  universal  emancipation.  Hence  their  unjust 
laws,  which  take  away  the  very  key  of  knowledge. 

It  is  true,  there  is  a  necessity  laid  on  the  master  to  keep 
the  slave  in  ignorance,  in  order  to  continue  him  a  slave. 
And  what  stronger  argument  can  there  be  against  slavery  ? 
How  horrible  must  be  the  system,  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
its  strongest  advocates,  demands,  as  the  necessary  condition 
of  its  existence,  that  knowledge  must  be  shut  out  of  the 
minds  of  those  who  live  under  it,  that  they  should  be 
reduced  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  level  of  brutes  or 
machines,  and  that  the  powers  of  their  souls  should  be 
crushed !  Slavery  compels  the  master  to  degrade  system- 
atically the  mind  of  the  slave — to  war  against  human  intelli- 
gence. Can  such  a  system  be  supported,  or  even  tolerated, 
without  deep  criminality?  Is  it  marvelous  that  the  list  of 
worthies,  given  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie,  should  b'e  the  oppo- 
nents of  so  great  a  degradation  of  human  nature? 

10.  It  is  objected,  that  almost  every- where  the  laboring 
classes  are  doomed  to  ignorance;  or,  as  Dr.  Fuller  has  it, 
"the  laboring  population  in  all  countries  have  but  little 
taste  or  time  for  literature." 

This  is  notably  untrue  of  the  free  states,  because  the 
masses  have  not  only  a  knowledge  of  reading  and  writing, 
but  also  of  much  useful  knowledge,  as  history,  geography, 
arithmetic,  composition,  etc.,  which  is  obtained  in  childhood 
and  youth.  And  should  these  have  even  but  little  time,  as 
Dr.  Fuller  states,  this  little,  duly  imp?%oved,  will  soon  accu- 
mulate much  useful  knowledge.  Who  will  compare  with 
slaves  the  laborers,  mechanics,  and  farmers  of  the  free 
states,  as  to  knowledge,  without  blushing?  Indeed,  from 
these  same  laboring  classes  of  the  free  states,  men  of  the 
greatest  distinction  in  Church  and  state  have  arisen,  to  fill 
all  the  departments  of  life  with  usefulness  and  dignity. 
But  Dr.  Fuller  adds,  "But  if  our  slaves  were  taught  to 


132  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS — EDUCATION. 

read."  If  they  were,  as  was  said  before,  they  would  soon 
learn  their  rights,  so  that  the  injustice  and  wrongs  of  slavery 
could  not  be  practiced  over  them. 

If  the  laboring  classes  of  Europe  are  quoted,  as  they 
often  are,  to  show  the  similarity  of  condition,  in  regard  to 
intellectual  improvement,  the  objection  will  not  hold ;  be- 
cause, 1.  Many,  indeed  large  portions,  of  the  laboring 
classes  of  Europe  receive  the  elements  of  common  school 
education,  and  many  of  the  most  educated  men  were,  in 
early  life,  of  this  class.  2.  But  it  is  derogatory  to  human 
nature,  and  truly  worthy  of  slavery,  to  plead  the  remains 
of  barbarism  in  Europe  as  the  model  for  their  imitation. 
All  philanthropists  and  good  men  select  the  good  examples 
after  which  to  copy;  but  the  defenders  of  slavery  select 
degradation,  and  the  lowest  forms  of  degraded  humanity, 
on  which  to  form,  as  models,  a  half,  or  a  large  portion  of 
the  community  in  which  they  live.  If  there  were  no  other 
argument,  in  or  out  of  the  Bible,  than  this,  derived  as  it  is 
from  the  depraved  standard  of  ignorant  and  oppressed 
communities,  this  alone  ought  to  sink  it  forever  in  the  judg- 
ment of  all  Christians  and  philanthropic  men ;  and  it  does 
thus  sink  it.  Even  Dr.  Fuller  is  unable  to  deliver  slavery 
from  the  weight  of  this  millstone  hung  about  its  heck. 
He  suddenly  drops  the  objection,  by  waiving  it,  and  passing 
to  another  topic.  And  so  must  eveiy  one  else  who  pleads 
for  the  ignorance,  and  therefore  the  degradation,  of  their 
fellow-creatures. 

11.  Nor  do  the  well-meant  attempts  recently  made,  of 
communicating  oral  religious  instruction,  at  all  meet  the 
wants  of  the  human  mind ;  because,  1.  At  best  such  instruc- 
tions are  very  limited  in  their  range.  They  are  confined 
altogether  to  religious  instruction,  leaving  the  mind  unin- 
formed as  to  all  other  departments  of  knowledge.  2.  Such 
instructions,  too,  are  superficial,  as  they  rarely  enter  into 
any  discussions  beyond  the  mere  elements  of  religious  truth; 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS EDUCATION.  133 

and  these  in  a  very  slight  degree,  as  is  manifest  from  the 
catechetical  text-books  prepared  to  aid  the  teacher,  but 
never  designed  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  slaveholders. 
3.  Besides,  the  uncultivated  minds  of  slaves  are  poorly  pre- 
pared to  receive  the  ipstruction  thus  communicated.  4. 
Add  to  all  this,  the  few  only  are  reached,  \vhile  the  many 
are  utterly  overlooked.  Only  a  few  of  the  slaveholders, 
where  instruction  is  the  most  needed,  will  allow  their  slaves 
even  this  imperfect  mode  of  teaching.  Missionaries  and 
others  who  resort  to  this  good  work  are  watched  with  jeal- 
ousy, and  may  at  any  time  be  prevented  from  prosecuting 
their  good  work.  Nevertheless,  even  this  oral  instruction, 
if  pure  Gospel  principles  are  inculcated,  will  do  much  good. 
Yet,  we  fear  most  of  the  teaching  is  on  one  side  of  the 
question,  whether  catechetically  communicated,  or  from  the 
pulpit.  The  duties  of  slaves,  falsely  called  servants,  are 
urged  with  assiduity ;  while  the  duties  of  masters,  especially 
slave-masters,  are  rarely  touched,  or  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  leave  the  grossest  sins  unreproved,  much  less  actually 
corrected. 

12 


134  DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES. 


CHAPTER  III. 

DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES. 

1.  ONE  of  the  plainest  dictates  of  the  Christian  religion 
is  a  regard  for  the  well-being  of  our  fellow-creatures.     This 
is  enforced  as  a  duty,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
All  true  Christians  believe  that  the  knowledge  of  the  pre- 
cepts and  promises  of  Christianity  will  promote  the  happi- 
ness of  men,  both  here  and  hereafter.     Negroes  are  en- 
dowed with  reason,  have  immortal  souls,  and  are  accountable 
to  God  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.     It  is  the  inalien- 
able right  of  every  human  being  to  worship  God  according 
to  his  own  views  of  what  is  true. 

2.  This  right  is  recognized  in  the  Bible. 

The  authority  of  God  in  religion  is  superior  to  all  other 
powers.  "Whether  it  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to 
hearken  unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye.  For 
we  can  not  but  speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen  and 
heard,"  Acts  iv,  19,  20.  "  Then  Peter  and  the  other  apos- 
tles answered  and  said,  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than 
man,"  Acts  v,  29. 

And  all  are  required  to  learn  and  receive  the  truth. 
"And  now,  Israel,  what  doth  the  Lord  thy  God  require 
of  thee  but  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  walk  in  all  his 
ways,  and  to  love  him,  and  to  serve  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul,  to  keep  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord,  and  his  statutes,  which  I  command 
thee  this  day  for  thy  good?"  Deut.  x,  12,  13.  "Ye  shall 
walk  after  the  Lord  your  God,  and  fear  him,  and  keep  his 
commandments,  and  obey  his  voice,  and  ye  shall  serve  him, 
and  cleave  unto  him,"  Deut.  xiii,  4. 

We  are  also  to  judge  and  prove  all  things — receive  the 
good  and  reject  the  bad.  "Prove  all  things;  hold  fast 
that  which  is  good,"  1  Thess.  v,  21.  "Beloved,  believe 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES.  135 

not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are  of 
God:  because  many  false  prophets  are  gone  out  into  the 
world,"  1  John  iv,  1. 

All  are  required  to  search  the  Scriptures.  "  Search  the 
Scriptures ;  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life :  and 
they  are  they  which  testify  of  me,"  John  v,  39. 

What  we  learn  we  are  bound  to  retain.  "  Take  fast 
hold  of  instruction;  let  her  not  go:  keep  her;  for  she  is 
thy  life,"  Prov.  iv,  13. 

Conscience  binds  men  to  exercise  these  religious  privi- 
leges. "Conscience,  I  say,  not  thine  own,  but  of  the 
other:  for  why  is  my  liberty  judged  of  another  man's 
conscience?"  1  Cor.  x,  29. 

And  it  is  a  heinous  sin  to  prevent  or  forbid  others  from 
obeying  God.  "Woe  unto  you,  lawyers!  for  ye  have  taken 
away  the  key  of  knowledge :  ye  enter  not  in  yourselves, 
and  them  that  were  entering  in  ye  hindered,"  Luke  xi,  52. 

3.  The  right  of  every  man  to  worship  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  conscience  is  the  great  principle  of  Protest- 
antism and  of  liberty.     Long  and  difficult  was  the  struggle 
in  asserting  and  securing  this.     It  was  partly  obtained  at 
the  Reformation  from  Popery;  but  only  in  part.     The  Pu- 
ritans contended  for  this  in  the  times  of  Elizabeth,  James, 
and  Charles  I.     The  Non-conformists  and  Quakers  felt  the 
want  of  this  in  the  time  of  Charles  II.     The  Quakers  and 
Baptists  contended  and  suffered  for  it  in  New  England. 
To  establish  this  has  cost  blood  and  suffering  to  no  ordinary 
degree. 

4.  This  right  is  fully  established  by  the  principles  of  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  sev- 
eral states,  except  for  the  benefit  of  the  colored  race  in  the 
slave  states.     Both  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  constitutions  of  the  several  states  assert  this  in  the 
most  unequivocal  manner.     To  maintain  and  enjoy  the  right 
to  worship  God,  where,  when,  and  how  they  pleased — the 


136  DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES. 

right  to  hold  what  opinions  they  pleased — the  early  Eu- 
ropean settlers  of  the  United  States  endured  all  the  sacri- 
fices of  a  perilous  voyage,  and  the  hardship  of  settling  a 
new  country.  An  American  citizen,  whether  at  the  north 
or  south,  prizes  this  beyond  every  other  privilege.  To 
maintain  it  he  pledges  "his  life,  his  property,  and  his  sa- 
cred honor." 

5.  The  slave,  in  every  state  where  slavery  exists,  is  prac- 
tically denied  this  right.  He  may  have  it,  in  part,  by  con- 
cession ;  but  he  can  never  claim  it  as  a  right.  Mr.  Stroud, 
p.  90,  expresses  it  thus :  "  The  means  for  moral  and  re- 
ligious instruction  are  not  granted  to  the  slave;  on  the 
contrary,  the  efforts  of  the  humane  and  charitable  to  supply 
these  wants  are  discountenanced  by  law."  Whatever  kind- 
ness may  exist  on  the  part  of  the  master,  this  great  privi- 
lege, so  far  as  the  law  of  slavery  is  concerned,  is  not 
secured  to  the  slave.  Every  thing  pertaining  to  the  worship 
of  God  is  in  the  hands  of  the  master;  and  no  slaves,  ac- 
cording to  the  laws,  can  act  freely  in  the  worship  of  God. 
The  world,  in  its  worst  times  of  oppression,  has  never  seen 
any  thing  worse,  or  that  more  effectually  interferes  with 
the  rights  of  conscience,  than  the  slave  laws  of  the  slave 
states  in  regard  to  religion. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  showed  that  mental  instruc- 
tion, in  general,  is  withheld  from  the  slave.  He  can  not, 
therefore,  learn  the  Scriptures,  except  as  a  hearer;  and  yet 
there  are  few  facilities  afforded  even  for  this.  No  time  is 
secured  to  the  slave  by  law,  nor  place  provided. 

When  the  slave  accompanies  his  master  to  Church,  it 
is  mostly  for  the  convenience  of  his  master.  Besides,  the 
rude  mind  of  the  slave  can  not  comprehend,  to  advantage, 
discourses  designed  for  the  more  enlarged  capacity  of  the 
master. 

By  a  law  of  Georgia,  white  persons  are  fully  protected 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES.  137 

in  the  exercise  of  religious  worship ;  yet  the  same  law  con- 
cludes in  these  words :  "  No  congregation  or  company  of 
negroes  shall,  under  any  pretense  of  divine  worship,  assem- 
ble themselves  contrary  to  the  act  regulating  patrols." 
And,  according  to  the  -patrol  law,  "  every  slave  which  shall 
be  found  and  taken  at  such  meeting  as  aforesaid,  shall  and 
may,  by  order  of  such  justice,  immediately  be  corrected 
without  trial,  by  receiving  on  the  bare  back  twenty-five 
stripes  with  a  whip,  switch,  or  cow-skin."  (Stroud,  p.  92 ; 
Prince's  Digest,  447.) 

In  South  Carolina  the  restraints  on  the  religious  privileges 
of  the  slaves  are  stringent  enough.  (Stroud,  p.  93.) 

In  Virginia,  "  all  meetings,  etc.,  of  slaves,  free  negroes, 
and  mulattoes,  mixing,  etc.,  with  such  slaves  at  any  meeting- 
house, etc.,  or  any  other  place,  etc.,  in  the  night,  under  any 
pretext  whatsoever,  are  declared  to  be  unlawful  assemblies, 
and  the  civil  power  may  disperse  the  same  and  inflict  corpo- 
real punishment  on  the  offenders."  (Stroud,  p.  94.)  Slaves 
may,  ho\vever,  attend  at  church,  on  any  day  of  public  wor- 
ship. 

Mississippi  has  adopted  the  law  of  Virginia,  with  a 
proviso  that  the  master  or  overseer  of  a  slave  may,  in 
writing,  grant  him  permission  to  attend  a  place  of  religious 
worship,  at  which  the  minister  may  be  white,  and  regularly 
ordained  or  licensed ;  or,  at  least,  two  discreet  and  reputable 
white  persons,  appointed  by  some  regular  Church,  or  relig- 
ious society,  shall  attend.  (Miss.  Rev.  Code,  390.) 

Can  any  man  believe  that  it  was  the  design  of  God  and 
agreeable  to  the  principles  of  holy  Scripture,  that  such  a 
system  should  be  perpetuated  for  the  good  of  society? 
Can  any  man  now  believe  that  another  might  dictate  to  him 
how,  when,  where,  he  should  worship  God,  what  he  should 
believe,  and  all  other  matters  concerning  religion  ?  South- 
ern men  would  be  the  first  to  take  up  arms,  if  any  man 
12* 


138  DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES. 

would  impose  on  them  such  a  restriction  in  regard  to  religion 
as  they,  by  their  laws,  impose  on  the  slaves  and  colored 
people. 

But  let  us  examine  this  matter  more  narrowly.  We 
maintain  that  slavery  obstructs  the  means  of  grace,  and 
tends  to  prevent  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

6.  Slavery  in  a  great  measure  deprives  its  subjects  of 
religious  instruction  and  the  privileges  of  the  Gospel. 
These  may  be  ranged  under  the  following  heads:  free 
access  to  the  Scripture,  a  Gospel  ministry,  various  other 
means  of  grace,  etc. 

(1.)  Either  the  laws  or  usages  of  the  slave  states  prevent 
the  slaves  from  free  access  to  the  Scriptures.  We  have 
seen  that  it  is  a  necessary  appendage  of  slavery  to  restrain 
the  slaves  from  learning.  But  to  learn  to  read  the  word  of 
God  is  necessary  in  order  to  read  it ;  and  reading  it  is  an 
important  means  of  knowing  the  will  of  God,  revealed  to 
mankind  for  their  salvation.  Therefore,  to  restrain  any 
from  the  knowledge  of  God's  written  word,  is  a  high  insult 
to  God,  who  gave  us  his  revelation,  that  we  might  read 
it  and  acquire  the  knowledge  of  the  way  of  salvation. 
Again :  to  prevent  any  of  mankind  from  reading  the  word  of 
God  is  to  hinder  their  salvation,  because  it  prevents  the 
means  leading  to  the  end.  Hence,  it  is  sacrificing  the  sin- 
ner's salvation  to  the  slaveholder's  worldly  gain.  And, 
although  no  law  may  justly  prohibit  the  reading  of  the 
Bible,  yet  law  or  custom  does  worse,  by  preventing  the 
slave  from  reading,  so  that  he  can  neither  read  the  Bible 
nor  any  other  book.  The  ignorance  of  the  slave  prevents 
him  from  reading  the  Bible  and  understanding  its  contents. 
The  Bible  may  be  before  him;  but  it  is  to  him  a  sealed 
book.  "The  light  shineth  in  darkness,  but  the  darkness 
comprehendeth  it  not." 

(2.)  The  slaves  are  not  effectually  provided  with  the 
advantages  of  the  ministry.  They  are,  it  is  true,  often 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES.  139 

permitted,  and  even  encouraged,  to  attend  Church,  with  their 
masters.  But  the  instructions  communicated  on  such  occa- 
sions are,  for  the  most  part,  above  their  capacities.  They 
listen  as  to  prophecies  in  an  unknown  tongue;  and  the 
preachers  of  their  own .  color  are  mostly  ill  qualified  to 
instruct  them. 

If  a  slave  does  possess  gifts  and  grace  to  preach,  and  the 
Church  should  license  or  ordain  him,  he  is  prevented  by 
tyrannical  power  from  going  forth  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature.  If  the  Church  would  call  the  slave  preacher 
from  his  subjection  to  his  master  to  fill  his  office,  the 
Church  would  be  treated  as  a  dangerous  enemy,  and  if  per- 
sisted in,  the  actors  in  the  Church  would  be  treated  with 
the  highest  severity.  In  most  of  the  slave  states  the  laws 
prevent  any  preachers  of  the  Gospel  from  collecting  the 
colored  people  into  congregations,  for  the  purpose  of  hearing 
the  Gospel  preached.  And  the  colored  people  would  be 
cruelly  tortured  did  they  attend  such  ministrations.  Any 
privileges  of  hearing  the  Gospel  must  be  given  by  the  good- 
will of  the  master.  And  in  no  slave  state  can  colored 
preachers  be  pastors  of  flocks.  The  office  of  colored 
preachers  must  be  that  of  the  lowest  deaconship  of  the 
word. 

(3.)  Social  means  of  grace  are  but  limitedly  used  by  the 
slaves.  Occasionally  a  white  family  is  found  where  slaves  are 
taught  to  worship  with  them  in  their  family  prayers.  But 
with  most  masters  who  attempt  this,  it  is  an  abortive  under- 
taking. The  duties  of  the  slaves,  or  their  natural  aversion 
to  devotion,  are  barriers  in  the- way.  In  their  own  cottages, 
the  slaves  rarely  attend  family  devotions,  and  still  more 
rarely  do  they,  or  can  they,  read  the  Bible.  Yet  God  has 
not  left  himself  without  witnesses  in  this  matter,  whose  tes- 
timony will,  at  the  time  appointed,  condemn  the  conduct  of 
many  masters. 

Dr.  Fuller  argues,  or  rather  evades  the  real  issue,  most 


140  DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES. 

Bophistically,  on  this  point.  In  his  letters,  p.  140,  he  says: 
"Now,  suppose  a  slave  to  have  the  word  of  God,  and  to 
employ  all  the  means  of  grace,  why  should  his  moral  im- 
provement be  impossible  because  he  labors  for  my  benefit  ?" 
Well,  suppose  he  has  the  word  of  God — if  he  can  not  read  it 
what  good  can  it  do  him  ?  And  as  to  his  "  enjoying  all  the 
means  of  grace,"  this  is  what  is  rarely  the  case ;  and  when 
he  does  enjoy  these  means,  they  are  merely  from  the  will  of 
his  master;  and  many  masters  allow  of  no  such  privileges. 
Indeed,  the  means  of  grace  allowed  by  masters  are  not 
allowed  from  the  system  of  slavery,  but  accrue  to  the  slave 
in  spite  of  the  system,  and  from  a  very  different  source; 
namely,  the  good-will  of  the  master,  and  the  force  of  anti- 
slavery  principles  counteracting  thd  tendency  of  the  system. 

Again:  Dr.  Fuller,  p.  157,  says  "that  duty  is  not  the 
emancipation,  but  the  instruction,  moral  and  intellectual,  of 
the  slave;  just  as  in  a  despotism,  the  duty  is,  not  granting 
a  free  constitution,  but  improving  the  subjects."  But  the 
system\)f  slavery  in  South  Carolina,  Mr.  Fuller's  own  state, 
makes  mental  improvement  in  the  slave  a  crime,  both  for  the 
slave  himself  and  the  person  who  aids  the  slave  in  acquiring 
it.  Hence,  the  moral  and  intellectual  instruction  of  the  slav 
must  be  derived  from  another  source  than  the  slave  system 
But  Mr.  Fuller,  all  along  in  his  letters,  considers  slavery  as 
under  the  control  of  pious  and  intelligent  masters ;  without 
duly  referring  to  its  proper  character  as  established  by  law, 
and  practiced  under  law,  which  is  the  correct  idea  of  slavery, 
and  not  the  mitigated  form  of  it  as  counteracted  by  the  acts 
of  benevolent  masters. 

7.  The  restraint  of  slavery  on  the  religious  privileges  of 
slaves  is  an  open  violation  of  the  rights  of  conscience. 

(1.)  This  restraint  violates  the  rights  of  conscience  of  the 
pious  Christian  whose  duty  it  is  to  instruct  the  slaves  in  the 
principles  of  religion,  and  lead  him  to  the  experience  of  the 
privileges  of  Christianity.  All  Christians  who  enjoy  the 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES.  141 

means  of  knowledge,  are  in  duty  bound,  according  to  their 
stations  and  circumstances,  to  teach  the  ignorant  the  word 
of  God.  But  the  laws  of  slave  states  by  fines  and  penalties 
prevent  the  free  citizens  from  teaching  the  slaves  to  read  the 
word  of  God,  even  though  they  found  themselves  bound  by 
the  word  of  God  and  their  own  consciences  to  instruct 
them.  If  private  Christians  attempt  to  teach  the  slaves  on 
the  Lord's  day,  they  are  violently  prevented  by  bands  of 
patrollers,  who  have  authority  to  disperse  the  blacks  if  more 
than  four  or  five  are  found  together,  except  they  are  imme- 
diately under  the  eyes  of  masters  or  overseers.  In  some 
slave  states  the  attempt  would  expose  the  teachers  to  fines 
and  imprisonment. 

(2.)  The  restraint  of  slavery  in  the  matter  of  religion  is 
a  violation  of  the  rights  of  conscience  of  the  slave.  All 
mankind  who  have  access  to  the  Scriptures  are  bound  to 
search  them.  This  obligation  is  stringent  upon  all  men. 
(John  v,  39 ;  2  Tim.  iii,  16.)  But  it  is  impossible  to  search 
the  Scriptures,  or  to  enjoy  all  those  spiritual  advantages, 
without  learning  to  read.  Suppose  a  slave  feels  it  his  con- 
scientious duty  to  learn  to  read  the  word  of  God,  as  many 
do — the  attempt  would  be  repelled  by  force,  and  if  persisted 
in  would  expose  him  to  torture.  If  a  slave  possess  gifts  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  the  restraint  of  slavery  completely  con- 
trols this. 

(3.)  There  are  circumstances  of  peculiar  malignity  attend- 
ing the  restraints  of  conscience  imposed  by  slavery.  1.  Pop- 
ish persecutors  had  the  glory  of  God  for  their  end,  and 
thought  they  were  doing  God  service  in  their  persecutions. 
The  end  in  view  by  slaveholders,  in  restraining  the  religious 
privileges  of  the  slaves,  is  their  own  worldly  advantage; 
because  they  know  that  slavery  can  not  be  long  sustained 
without  imperiously  restraining  the  slaves  from  the  means 
of  knowledge.  2.  Yet  the  occasion  of  persecution  by  the 
popish  party  was,  in  the  main,  the  same  with  that  under  the 


142  DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES. 

dominion  of  slavery.  The  Bible  seems  to  be  the  occasion 
for  both,  in  restraining  the  conscience.  The  cause  of 
restraint  in  the  slave  states  are  the  attempts  made  by  con- 
scientious persons  to  teach  the  blacks  to  read  the  Bible,  and 
attempts  by  the  blacks  themselves  to  learn  to  read,  that 
they  might  use  the  Scriptures ;  but  the  slaveholders,  who 
are  supported  by  law,  imperiously  withhold  them  from  the 
use  of  the  Scriptures,  by  restraining  them  from  all  means 
of  learning  to  read.  It  amounts  to  the  same  in  the  end, 
whether  the  Bible  is  by  force  withheld  from  the  people,  or 
the  people  by  force  withheld  from  the  Bible. 

And  here  we  may  quote  the  faithful  testimony  of  the 
synod  of  Kentucky  on  this  point.  They  say :  "  Still  fur. 
ther,  the  deprivation  of  personal  liberty  is  so  complete,  that 
it  destroys  the  rights  of  conscience.  Our  system,  as  estab- 
lished by  law,  arms  the  master  with  power  to  prevent  his 
slave  even  from  worshiping  God  according  to  the  dictates 
of  his  own  conscience.  The  owner  of  human  beings  among 
us  may  legally  restrain  them  from  assembling  to  hear  the  in- 
structions of  divine  truth,  or  even  from  ever  uniting  their 
hearts  and  voices  in  social  prayer  and  praise  to  Him  who 
created  them.  God  alone  is  Lord  over  the  conscience.  Yet 
our  system,  defrauding  alike  our  Creator  and  our  slaves,  con- 
fers upon  men  this  prerogative  of  Deity.  Argument  is  un- 
necessary, to  show  the  guilt  and  madness  of  such  a  system ; 
and  do  we  not  participate  in  its  criminality,  if  we  uphold  it?" 

8.  The  interference  of  slavery  with  the  religious  privileges 
of  Christians — whether  in  partaking  of  its  advantages  them- 
selves, or  of  inculcating  it  among  those  who  are  ignorant  of 
it — is  one  of  the  most  heinous  sins  that  depraved  human 
nature  can  commit.  It  is  an  insult  to  God,  the  Father,  who 
has  given  his  revelation  to  instruct  man.  It  is  a  disparage- 
ment to  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  to  redeem  man.  It  is  doing 
despite  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  whose  agency  man  is  re- 
newed, enlightened,  and  sanctified.  It  is  at  variance  with 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES.  143 

the  Bible,  because  it  takes  away  the  key  to  the  Bible,  even 
when  the  Bible  itself  is  not  prohibited.  It  is  a  frustration 
to  the  Gospel  ministry,  in  that  it  prevents  entirely  its  preach- 
ing, or  restrains  it  into  a  comparatively-inefficient  instrument- 
ality. It  throws  serious,  obstacles  in  the  way  of  Church 
discipline,  and  hems  in  all  the  operations  of  the  Church  of 
God. 

We  will  give  the  testimony  of  the  synod  of  Kentucky  on 
this  point,  in  their  address  in  1835: 

"But  while  the  system  of  slavery  continues  among  us, 
these  means  can  never  be  efficiently  and  fully  employed  for 
the  conversion  of  the  degraded  sons  of  Africa.  Yet  '  God 
hath  made  them  of  one  blood'  with  ourselves;  hath  pro- 
vided for  them  the  same  redemption ;  hath  in  his  providence 
cast  souls  upon  our  care ;  and  hath  clearly  intimated  to  us 
the  doom  of  him  who  seeth  his  brother  have  need  and 
shutteth  his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him.  If  by  our 
example,  our  silence,  or  our  sloth,  we  perpetuate  a  system 
which  paralyzes  our  hands  when  we  attempt  to  convey  to 
them  the  bread  of  life,  and  which  inevitably  consigns  the 
great  mass  of  them  to  unending  perdition,  can  we  be  guilt- 
less in  the  sight  of  Him  who  hath  made  us  stewards  of  his 
grace  ?" 

9.  The  interference  with  the  rights  of  conscience — espe- 
cially the  total  want  of  provision  for  the  religious  improve- 
ment of  the  slaves — is  one  of  the  worst  features  of  the 
system.  Already  we  have  said  a  few  words  on  the  subject 
of  oral  instruction,  but  more  especially  in  reference  to  its 
bearing  on  intellectual  culture.  There  is  nothing  of  which 
slaveholders  are  more  afraid,  than  sound  religious  instruc- 
tion. Hence  they  throw  impediments  in  the  way  of  pure 
Gospel  instruction.  Many  in  the  south  are  now  attempting 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  slaves — to  establish  schools  daily  or 
weekly — to  conduct  the  labor  and  discipline  of  the  plantation 
on  Gospel  principles.  Yet  none  of  the  religious  teachers 


144  DEPRIVATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES. 

are  allowed  to  employ  any  thing  except  oral  instruction. 
There  can  be  no  religious  assemblies  except  under  the  eye 
of  the  master,  and  no  instruction  except  \vith  his  express 
approbation. 

10.  And  even  when  religion  itself  is  ardently  supported 
by  slaveholders,  the  system  of  slavery  so  vitiates  religious 
endeavors  as  to  prejudice  the  minds  of  slaves  against  all 
true  religion. 

A  runaway  slave,  in  1841,  assigned  the  following  as  the 
reason  why  he  refused  to  commune  with  the  Church  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  at  the  south.  "The  Church," 
said  he,  "  had  silver  furniture  for  the  administration  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  to  procure  which  they  sold  my  brother  !  and 
I  could  not  bear  the  feelings  it  produced,  to  go  forward  and 
receive  the  sacrament  from  the  vessels  which  were  the  pur- 
chase of  my  brother's  blood,  "f  , 

"I  have  lived  eight  years  in  a  slave  state,  (Va.,)  and 
received  my  theological  education  at  the  Union  Theological 
Seminary  near  Hampden  Sidney  College.  Those  who  know 
any  thing  about  slavery  know  the  worst  kind  is  jobbing 
slavery — that  is,  the  hiring  out  of  slaves  from  year  to  year, 
while  the  master  is  not  present  to  protect  them.  It  is  the 
interest  of  the  one  who  hires  them  to  get  the  worth  of  his 
money  out  of  them ;  and  the  loss  is  the  master's  if  they  die. 
What  shocked  me  more  than  any  thing  else,  was  the  Church 
engaged  in  this  jobbing  of  slaves.  The  college  Church, 
which  I  attended,  and  which  was  attended  by  all  the  stu- 
dents of  Hampden  Sidney  College,  and  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  held  slaves  enough  to  pay  their  pastor,  Mr.  Stan- 
ton,  $1,000  a  year,  of  which  the  Church  members  did  not  pay 
a  cent.  So  I  understood  it.  The  slaves,  who  had  been  left 
to  the  Church  by  some  pious  mother  in  Israel,  had  increased 
so  as  to  be -a  large  and  still  increasing  fund.  These  were 
hired  out  on  Christmas  day  of  each  year — the  day  on  which 
they  celebrate  the  birth  of  our  blessed  Savior — to  the 


DEPRIVATION  OP  RELIGIOUS  PRIVILEGES.  145 

highest  bidder.  These  worked  hard  the  whole  year  to  pay 
the  pastor  his  $1,000  a  year;  and  it  was  left  to  the  caprice 
of  their  employers  whether  they  ever  heard  one  sermon,  for 
which  they  toiled  hard  the  whole  year  to  procure.  This 
was  the  church  in  which  the  professors  of  the  seminary  and 
of  the  college  often  officiated.  Since  the  abolitionists  have 
made  so  much  noise  about  the  connection  of  the  Church 
with  slavery,  the  Rev.  Elisha  Balenter  informed  me  the 
Church  had  sold  this  property  and  put  the  money  in  other 
stock.  There  were  four  Churches  near  the  college  Church 
that  were  in  the  same  situation  with  this,  when  I  was  in  that 
country,  that  supported  the  pastor,  in  whole  or  in  part,  in 
the  same  way ;  namely,  Cumberland  Church,  John  Kirkpat- 
rick  pastor ;  Briny  Church,  William  Plummer  pastor,  (since 
Dr.  P.,  of  Richmond;)  Buffalo  Church,  Mr.  Cochran  pastor; 
Pisgah  Church,  near  the  peaks  of  Otter,  J.  Mitchell  pastor." 
(Rev.  J.  Cable,  of  la.,  May  20, 1846,  in  a  letter  to  the  Mer- 
cer Luminary.) 

13 


146  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE. 

1.  As  slaves  are  the  property  of  others,  and  therefore 
things,  and  as  they  themselves  can  own  no  property,  and 
especially  because  they  can  make  no  contracts,  they  can 
not  contract  matrimony.  The  association  which  takes  place 
among  slaves,  though  sometimes  called  marriage,  is  not 
properly  marriage,  but  contubernium — a  relation  which  has 
no  sanctity,  and  to  which  no  civil  rights  are  attached.  The 
laws  of  the  southern  states  do  not  recognize  marriage  among 
the  slaves,  and  of  course  do  not  enforce  any  of  its  duties. 
Indeed,  slavery  will  not  admit  of  any  legal  recognition  of 
the  marriage  rite ;  for  the  master's  absolute  right  of  prop- 
erty in  the  slaves  must  frustrate  all  regulations  on  the 
subject.  In  his  disposal  of  them,  were  the  laws  of  mar- 
riage in  force,  he  would  be  no  longer  at  liberty  to  consult 
merely  his  own  interest.  He  could  no  longer  separate  the 
wife  and  husband,  to  suit  the  convenience  and  interest  of 
the  purchaser.  And  as  the  wife  and  husband  do  not  always 
belong  to  the  same  owner,  and  are  not  often  wanted  by  the 
same  purchaser,  the  duties  of  marriage,  if  enforced  by  law, 
would  frequently  conflict  with  the  interests  of  the  master. 
Hence,  all  the  marriage  contracts  that  could  ever  be  allowed 
to  slaves  would  be  "  voidable  "  at  the  master's  pleasure ;  and 
are  constantly  thus  voided  by  slavery.  Both  slaves  and  the 
system  of  slavery  consider  the  matrimonial  engagement  as 
a  thing  not  binding ;  and  the  practice  is  in  accordance  with 
the  theory.  The  slaves,  to  use  their  own  phraseology,  "  take 
up  with  each  other,"  and  live  together,  as  long  as  suits 
their  own  inclinations  and  convenience. 

The  following  is  the  law  opinion  of  Mr.  Dulaney,  At- 
torney-General of  Maryland:  "A  slave  has  never  main- 
tained an  action  against  the  violation  of  his  bed.  A  slave 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE.  147 

is  not  admonished  for  incontinence,  or  punished  for  fornica- 
tion or  adultery — never  prosecuted  for  bigamy,  or  petty 
treason  for  killing  a  husband  being  a  slave,  any  more  than 
admitted  to  an  appeal  for  murder."  (See  Stroud,  p.  61.) 

2.  Slavery  annihilates  the  right  of  marriage. 

The  master  has  power  to  prevent  the  marriage  of  his 
slaves,  or  separate  them  after  marriage.  This  results  from 
the  right  of  property  in  man ;  for  the  right  to  buy  a  thing 
implies  a  right  to  sell  it  again.  And  as  a  man  in  pur- 
chasing one  slave  is  under  no  obligation  of  purchasing 
unothe'r,  though  it  be  the  wife  or  child  of  the  former,  so 
it  is  in  regard  to  the  sale.  As  in  procuring  slaves  origin- 
ally— whether  by  conquests  in  war,  by  kidnapping,  by  pur- 
chase, or  by  seizing  innocent  children,  as  now  in  the  United 
States — no  regard  was  paid  to  any  of  the  relations  of  life, 
so  no  regard  is  had  to  these  relations  or  their  duties  in  the 
tenure  by  which  slaves  are  now  held.  The  slave  laws  do 
not  recognize  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and 
child,  brother  and  sister. 

There  are  thousands  of  instances  in  which  conscientious 
masters  would  not  separate  husband  and  wife,  parents  and 
children ;  but  this  can  not  be  taken  into  the  account  in  esti- 
mating the  character  of  the  system  of  slavery.  If  the 
master  is  in  debt,  the  law,  by  its  officers,  separates  man 
and  wife,  parents  and  children.  If  the  owner  of  slaves 
dies,  his  children  may  separate  the  marriage  contract;  or 
the  sheriff  may  do  it  by  the  strong  arm  of  law,  without 
asking  the  leave  of  heirs. 

The  power  of  the  master  over  the  slaves  sets  aside  the 
duties  of  marriage  'as  enjoined  in  the  holy  Scriptures, 
although  the  husband  and  wife  are  not  actually  separated. 
The  husband  is  declared  to  be  the  "head  of  the  wife,  as 
Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church,"  (Eph.  v,  23;  1  Cor. 
xi,  3,)  and  as  such,  has  a  right  to  rule  in  his  family.  The 
wife  is  commanded  to  be  subject  to  her  husband,  to  love 


148  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE. 

him,  to  cherish  him.  "As  the  Church  is  subject  to  Christ, 
so  let  the  wives  be  to  their  own  husbands  in  every  thing," 
Eph.  v,  24  and  33;  Titus  ii,  4,  5 ;  1  Peter  iii,  1.  It  is  the 
master,  not  the  husband,  that  has  the  supreme  power  over 
the  wife  of  the  slave.  The  master,  too,  has  "the  power  of 
enforcing  obedience  by  punishments,  in  spite  of  the  will  of 
the  husband.  The  power  of  the  master  extends,  too,  to 
her  manner  of  employing  her  time,  to  her  domestic  ar- 
rangements, to  her  hours  of  labor  and  rest,  to  her  food  and 
raiment,  etc. 

Here,  too,  the  power  of  the  master  may  not  be  exercised. 
He  may  not  interfere  with  the  relative  duties  of  marriage ; 
but  this  is  not  to  be  traced  to  any  mercy  in  the  institution 
of  slavery;  for  it  has  none.  Nothing  prevents  the  master 
from  setting  aside  the  whole  law  of  God  on  the  subject 
of  matrimony.  And  the  benevolence  of  humane  masters, 
which  prompts  them  to  act  toward  slaves,  not  according 
to  the  essential  laws  of  the  system^  but  according  to 
Scripture  precepts,  is  one  of  the  strongest  protests  against 
slavery  in  the  world.  Wherever  Christian  feeling  and  prin- 
ciples are  at  work,  they  rise  up  in  array  against  the  immo- 
rality and  sin  of  parting  husband  and  wife,  or  of  obstructing 
the  duties  of  the  marriage  relation.  The  same  feeling  and 
principles,  properly  carried  out,  would  revolt — they  do 
revolt — they  will  continue  to  revolt — against  the  whole 
system  of  slavery;  so  that,  finally,  it  will  be  rooted  out  of 
the  earth.  The  opposition  to  the  branches  will,  in  time, 
be  turned  against  the  stem  and  roots,  so  as  to  extirpate 
this  high  injustice  from  the  face  of  the  earth;  that  is,  to 
destroy  its  branches,  cut  down  the  trunk,  and  then  root  out 
every  vital  root  belonging  to  it,  so  that  it  will  never  germ- 
inate again.  So  it  will  be,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it.  "  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy 
mountain,  saith  the  Lord." 

Mr.  Rice,  in  answer  to  Mr.  Blanchard's  declaration,  that 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE.  149 

slaves  can  not  contract  marriage,  and  that  their  children 
are  illegitimate,  uses  the  following  language:  "The  mar- 
riage of  slaves  is  as  valid  in  the  view  of  God's  law  as  that 
of  their  masters.  Marriage  is  a  Bible  institution.  Will 
the  gentleman  point  us  to  the  portion  of  Scripture  which 
makes  recognition  of  marriage  by  the  civil  law  necessary 
to  its  validity?"  (Blanchard  and  Rice's  Discussion  on  Sla- 
very, p.  35.)  Again:  he  says,  p.  55,  "Point  me  to  the 
part  of  Scripture  which  makes  recognition  of  marriage  by 
the  civil  law  essential  to  its  validity."  Again:  p.  75, 
"The  marriage  of  slaves  is,  in  God's  law,  as  valid  as  that 
of  their  owners ;  and  it  is  as  truly  a  violation  of  that  law 
to  separate  the  former  as  the  latter." 

All  this,  on  the  whole,  is  true  enough;  but  it  evades  the 
force  of  the  argument.  Allowing,  as  we  readily  do,  that 
marriage  needs  not  mere  civil  regulations  to  make  it  valid, 
the  difficulty  is  not  removed ;  for  the  civil  laws  of  slavery, 
and  the  practice  under  them,  completely  annul  marriage 
in  three  several  ways:  1.  By  preventing,  authoritatively, 
the  slaves  from  entering  into  the  marriage  relation;  2.  By 
interfering  with  the  discharge  of  its  duties,  after  entering 
on  it;  and,  3.  By  separating  man  and  wife  at  the  will  of 
the  master.  All  this  is  done.  And  Mr.  Rice  evades  the 
argument  of  his  opponent,  on  this  point,  as  he  constantly 
does,  in  the  place  of  meeting  him  fairly;  so  that  he  is 
more  the  defender  and  apologist  for  slavery  than  any  thing 
else. 

3.  Slavery  tends  to  licentiousness,  both  among  the  slaves 
and  their  masters. 

(1.)  The  general  concubinage  among  the  slaves  produces 
revolting  licentiousness.  On  this  the  synod  of  Kentucky 
say :  "  We  are  assured,  by  the  most  unquestionable  testi- 
mony, that  their  [the  slaves]  licentiousness  is  the  necessary 
result  of  our  system,  which,  destroying  the  force  of  the 
marriage  rite,  and  thus,  in  a  measure,  degrading  all  the 
13* 


150  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE. 

connection  between  the  sexes  into  mere  concubinage,  solicits 
wandering  desire,  and  leads  to  extensive  profligacy.  Our 
familiarity  with  this  consequence  of  slavery,  prevents  us 
from  regarding  it  with  that  horror  which  it  would,  under 
other  circumstances,  inspire.  Without  marriage  we  would 
herd  together  like  brutes,  but  we  could  no  longer  live 
together  like  human  beings.  There  would  be  no  families,  no 
strong  ties  of  kindred,  no  domestic  endearments,  softening 
the  manners  and  curbing  the  passions.  Selfish,  sensual, 
and  unrestrained  man,  would  exercise  his  reason  only  to 
minister  to  the  more  groveling  propensities  of  his  nature. 
Any  set  of  men  will  approximate  to  this  condition,  just  in 
proportion  to  their  approximation  to  the  practical  abolition 
of  matrimonial  restraints.  And  certainly,  never,  in  any 
civilized  country,  has  respect  for  these  restraints  been  more 
nearly  obliterated,  than  it  has  been  among  our  blacks. 
Thus,  the  working  of  our  system  of  slavery  diffuses  a  moral 
pestilence  among  its  subjects,  tending  to  wither  and  blight 
every  thing  that  is  naturally  beautiful  and  good  in  the  char- 
acter of  man.  Can  this  system  be  tolerated  without  sin?" 
This  is  the  testimony  of  eye  and  ear  witnesses,  whose  state- 
ments can  not  be  called  in  question. 

Mr.  Seabrook,  of  South  Carolina,  in  1834,  said,  "In  gen- 
eral, the  intercourse  between  servants  is  as  unrestrained  as 
the  most  unbounded  ambition  could  desire.  The  daily 
business  of  the  plantation  having  been  finished,  the  power 
of  the  master  practically  ceases.  He  knows  not,  and  appa- 
rently cares  not,  in  what  way  the  hours  of  the  night  are 
passed  by  his  people."  (See  his  Essay,  Charleston,  1834; 
and  Quarterly  Antislavery  Review  for  1836,  p.  127.) 

(2.)  The  licentiousness  of  the  whites  is  a  result  flowing 
from  the  abrogation  or  frustration  of  marriage  among  the 
slaves.  "A  slave  country,"  says  Channing,  "reeks  with 
licentiousness.  It  is  tainted  with  a  deadlier  pestilence  than 
the  plague.  To  hold  females  in  slavery  is  necessarily  fatal 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE.  151 

to  the  purity  of  a  people.  That  females,  entirely  under 
the  control  of  masters,  shoifld  be  used  to  minister  to  other 
passions  than  the  love  of  gain,  is  certain.  Hence,  the 
reins  are  given  to  youthful  licentiousness ;  and  early  licen- 
tiousness is  fruitful  of  crime  in  mature  life.  The  frequency 
of  these  abominations  in  slave  countries,  shows  that  it  is  a 
necessary  consequence  of  slavery.  Some  exceptions  of 
domestic  fidelity  may  be  found;  but  these  are  few,  by  the 
confession  of  residents  on  the  spot.  Every  man  who  resides 
on  his  plantation  may  have  his  harem,  and  has  every  induce- 
ment of  custom  and  of  pecuniary  gain  to  tempt  him  to  the 
common  practice." 

(3.)  Many  masters  have  children  and  grandchildren  born 
in  slavery.  Many,  perhaps  most  of  these,  are  well  treated 
during  the  lifetime  of  their  parents;  but,  at  their  death, 
they  are  mostly  left  in  bondage.  Some  parents  place  their 
own  children  under  the  whip  of  the  overseer.  Others  sell 
them  into  perpetual  bondage.  Some  have  for  their  slaves 
their  own  brothers  and  sisters.  Such  are  the  evils  growing 
out  of  slavery,  and  incorporated  into  its  very  being. 

The  quadroons  of  New  Orleans  and  other  southern  loca- 
tions, are  brought  up  by  their  mothers  to  be  what  they 
are — the  mistresses  of  white  gentlemen.  Some  of  the  boys 
are  sent  abroad,  others  are  placed  on  farms,  and  others  are 
sold  into  slavery.  The  girls  are  highly  educated  in  exter- 
nals. Every  young  man  early  selects  one.  Some  live  with 
them  through  life;  while  others  marry  white  wives,  and 
then  either  disband  their  connection  with  the  quadroons  or 
continue  it,  as  they  see  fit. 

Handsome  mulattoes  are  sold  at  enormous  prices  in  the 
southern  market,  for  the  accursed  purposes  to  which  the 
New  Orleans  quadroons  are  so  shamefully  subjected. 

Slaveholding  proves  a  snare  to  masters  and  their  sons, 
living  in  idleness,  either  by  flattery  or  force  to  make  undue 
approaches  to  the  female  slaves.  The  offspring,  which  is  a 


152  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGK. 

mixed  blood,  become  a  source  of  jealousy  to  the  lawful 
wife,  and  of  shame  and  vexatiort  to  the  legitimate  children. 
The  frequency  of  these  abominable  practices,  in  every  slave 
neighborhood,  shows  that  it  is  a  necessary  consequence  of 
slavery. 

The  sale  of  any  children,  whether  one's  own  children  or 
the  children  of  others,  possesses  the  most  shocking  traits 
of  depravity  and  consummate  wickedness.  All  children 
born  of  female  slaves,  are  devoted  by  the  slave  laws  to 
perpetual  slavery.  On  this  account  fathers  sell  their  own 
children,  or  leave  them  in  perpetual  bondage.  For  a  man 
to  sell  the  children  of  another,  is,  in  some  respects,  worse 
than  to  sell  his  own.  Yet  both  have  circumstances  of 
horror  peculiar  to  each.  To  sell  the  children  of  another 
appears  more  satanic,  because  in  that  case  the  seller  has  no 
moral  right  of  property  in  the  child  that  he  violently  wrests 
from  the  parents.  In  the  latter  case,  the  father  has  a  cer- 
tain right  of  property  to  his  own  child,  at  least  till  it  arrives 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  Therefore,  in  the  case  of  a  man's 
selling  his  own  children  for  slaves,  he  acts  the  more  brutish 
part;  but  he  who  sells  the  children  of  another,  acts  the 
more  diabolical  part. 

The  brutish  custom  of  parents  selling  their  own  children 
and  grandchildren;  or,  what  is  worse,  leaving  them  to  be 
inherited  by  their  brothers  and  sisters,  or  their  uncles  and 
aunts,  in  the  estimation  of  many  has  proved  a  barrier  to 
emancipation.  The  general  connection  of  white  masters 
with  their  female  slaves,  produced  a  mulatto  race  whose 
numbers  would  soon  be  dangerous,  if  the  affections  of  their 
white  parents  were  permitted  to  render  them  free.  The 
liberty  of  emancipating  them  was,  therefore,  abolished,  while 
the  liberty  to  sell  them  remained.  Yet  these  planters,  who 
sell  their  own  offspring  to  fill  their  purses,  and  who  have 
such  offspring  for  the  sake  of  filling  their  purses,  raise  the 
cry  of  amalgamation  against  the  abolitionists,  without  just 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE.  153 

cause.  But  it  is  among  the  slaveholders  that  this  abomina- 
ble mixture  is  constantly  encouraged,  and  made  a  matter 
of  gain,  too. 

4.  The  wicked  practice  of  slave-growing,  if  not  a  first- 
fruit  of  slavery,  is  at  least  a  certain  second  crop,  and  now 
is  to  be  ranked  among  its  annual  principal  productions. 
We  have  previously  given  as  much  on  this  point  as  to  pre- 
sent its  existence  and  true  character.  Now  we  mention  it 
in  its  proper  place,  as  a  legitimate  part  of  American  slavery, 
and  connected  with  the  annulment  of  marriage.  We  will 
here,  on  this  point,  barely  quote  the  remarks  of  two  writers, 
a  gentleman  and  lady.  These  will  speak  to  both  sexes,  in 
such  terms  as  can  not  offend  delicate  ears,  although  they 
may  appall  the  hearts  of  all  except  the  guilty  dealers  in 
human  stock. 

Dr.  William  E.  Channing,  in  his  book  on  slavery,  p.  80, 
says:  "We  hear  of  some  of  the  southern  states  enriching 
themselves  by  breeding  slaves  for  sale.  Of  all  the  licensed 
occupations  of  society,  this  is  the  most  detestable.  What ! 
grow  men  like  cattle !  Bear  human  families,  like  herds  of 
swine,  and  then  scatter  them  to  the  four  winds,  for  gain ! 
Among  the  imprecations  uttered  by  man  on  man,  is  there 
one  more  fearful,  more  ominous,  than  the  sighing  mother's, 
bereft  of  her  child  by  unfeeling  cupidity  ?  If  blood  cry  to 
God,  surely  that  sigh  will  be  heard  in  heaven." 

Miss  Martineau,  in  her  Views  of  Slavery  and  Emancipa- 
tion, New  York,  1837,  p.  9.,  employs  the  following  lan- 
guage on  this  inhuman  practice :  "  There  is  no  occasion  to 
explain  the  management  of  the  female  slaves  on  estates 
where  the  object  is  to  rear  as  many  as  possible,  like  stock, 
for  the  southern  market;  nor  to  point  out  the  boundless 
licentiousness  by  the  practice — a  practice  which  wrung  from 
the  wife  of  a  planter,  in  the  bitterness  of  her  heart,  the 
declaration  that  a  planter's  wife  was  only  '  the  chief  slave 
of  the  harem.'  Mr.  Madison  avowed  that  the  licentiousness 


154  DEPRIVATION  OF  BIGHTS MARRIAGE. 

of  the  Virginia  plantations  stopped  just  short  of  destruc- 
tion ;  and  that  it  was  understood  that  the  female  slaves 
were  to  become  mothers  at  fifteen." 

5.  A  monstrous  illegal  amalgamation  of  the  most  revolt- 
ing character,  is  a  consequence  of  the  annulment  of  mar- 
riage among  the  slaves.  More  than  half  of  the  slaves,  it  is 
calculated,  share  the  blood  and  color  of  the  whites.  And 
almost  all  these  are  illegitimate — born  out  of  wedlock.  In 
most  parts  of  the  slave  states  the  licentiousness  of  the 
white  males  is  very  general,  most  of  them  living  in  forbid- 
den intimacy  with  the  female  slaves.  Great  solicitude  is 
often  manifested  that  the  breeding  wenches,  as  they  call 
them,  should  be  the  mothers  of  mulatto  children,  as  the 
nearer  the  young  slaves  approach  to  white  the  higher  will 
their  price  be,  especially  if  they  are  females.  As  much 
solicitude  is  felt  on  this  point,  as  is  felt  respecting  breeding 
animals;  namely,  to  increase  the  value  of  the  marketable 
slave  stock.  Nay,  some  affirm  that  rewards  are  sometimes 
given  to  white  males,  who  will  consent  to  be  the  fathers  of 
the  mulattoes.  The  colored  women  are  compelled  to  sub- 
mit to  this  more  than  brutish  treatment  without  murmuring, 
and  are  barbarously  punished  if  they  resent  it.  And  yet 
southern  slaveholders  cry  out  against  amalgamation  by 
marriage,  or  against  amalgamation  in  any  form;  while  at 
the  same  time  they  are  practically  engaged  in  the  most 
shameful,  unnatural,  and  wicked  amalgamation  that  ever 
debased  human  nature  since  the  days  of  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah. Of  legal  amalgamation  they  have  the  utmost 
horror;  in  illegal,  compulsory  amalgamation  they  seem  to 
glory. 

Indeed,  the  mixture  of  color  is  rapidly  increasing  in  the 
slave  states  by  means  of  illicit  connections,  much  more  than 
by  lawful  marriage,  if  they  were  all  free.  For  if  they  were 
free,  they  would  improve  by  religious  and  moral  instruction, 
which  would  prevent  irregular  practices.  Not  only  so,  if 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE.  155 

free,  they  would  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  their  mas- 
ters, who  now  compel  the  female  slaves  to  become  their 
prostitutes  when  they  please. 

The  facts  in  the  case  are  plainly  these.  In  the  free  states 
there  is  very  little  mixture  of  color.  The  colored  people 
principally  marry  among  themselves.  And  in  proportion 
as  marriage  obtains,  these  mixtures  decrease. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  shameless  hypocrisy  for  slaveholders 
and  their  defenders  to  cry  out  against  amalgamation,  when 
this  is  a  thing  that  either  wholly  or  principally  concerns 
themselves.  And  more  especially  is  it  shameful,  because 
all  the  colored  people,  both  among  the  slaves  and  free  peo- 
ple of  color,  are  nearly  akin  to  the  slaveholders ;  they  are 
their  bone  and  their  flesh.  The  greatest  families  in  the 
south  have  the  larger  number  of  their  own  blood  relations 
among  the  colored  people.  There  are  to  be  found  their 
brothers  and  sisters,  their  children  and  grandchildren,  their 
uncles  and  aunts,  their  cousins,  back  through  many  grades. 
Their  fathers,  grandfathers,  great  grandfathers,  great  great 
grandfathers,  etc.,  had  their  relatives,  too,  among  the  colored 
people.  Many  of  all  the  great  southern  families,  then,  are 
the  blood  relatives  of  the  colored  people.  It  is,  therefore, 
a  burning  shame,  to  say  nothing  of  the  sin,  for  them  to  act 
toward  their  bone  and  their  flesh  as  they  continually  do. 

6.  This  element  of  slavery,  whereof  we  are  now  treating, 
degrades  woman  in  the  most  shameful  manner.  A  woman, 
under  the  control  of  slavery,  her  purity  and  honor  in  the 
hands  of  her  master,  exposed  to  the  whip,  liable  to  be  sold 
at  any  time,  can  not  be  loved  and  honored  as  a  woman 
should  be.  So  it  is  in  all  slave  countries.  Woman  is  de- 
graded, just  as  in  heathen  countries.  The  sacred  names  of 
mother  and  wife,  in  their  pure  and  dignified  imports,  "will  not 
apply  to  slave  women. 

The  public  advertisements,  under  the  sanction  of  law, 
to  be  met  with  in  all  southern  papers,  are  among  the  mos< 


156  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE. 

disgraceful,  wicked,  barbarous,  and  heathen  customs  that 
can  be  found  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Here  are  a  few 
specimens  of  the  expressions: 

"Twenty  dollars  reward. — Ran  away  from  the  subscriber, 
a  negro  woman  and  two  children;  the  woman  is  tall  and 
black;  and  a  few  days  before  she  went  off  I  burned  her 
with  a  hot  iron  on  the  left  side  of  her  face ;  I  tried  to  make 
the  letter  M ;  and  she  kept  a  cloth  over  her  head  and  face, 
and  a  fly  bonnet  on  her  head,  so  as  to  cover  the  burn.  Her 
children  are  both  boys ;  the  eldest  is  in  his  seventh  year ; 
he  is  a  mulatto,  and  has  blue  eyes;  the  youngest  is  black, 
and  is  in  his  fifth  year." 

Another  reads :  "  Mary  has  a  small  scar  over  her  eye ;  a 
good  many  teeth  missing ;  the  letter  A  is  branded  on  her 
forehead." 

These  are  mere  specimens  of  the  thousands  of  such  ad- 
vertisements which  are  constantly  issued.  So  the  degrada- 
tion of  woman  has  progressed.  It  began  in  particular 
instances,  but  it  has  progressed  to  become  a  system,  and  is 
now  incorporated  as  part  and  parcel  of  American  slavery. 
Take  the  following  as  an  example,  from  the  Brunswick 
(Georgia)  Advocate : 

"Wanted  to  hire. — The  undersigned  wish  to  hire  one 
thousand  negroes  to  work  on  the  Brunswick  canal,  of  whom 
one-third  may  be  women.  Sixteen  dollars  per  month  will 
be  paid  for  steady,  prime  men,  and  $13  for  women. 

F.  &  A.  PRATT, 
P.  M.  NIGHTINGALE. 

"Brunswick,  Jan.  25,  1839." 

7.  The  Bible  is  in  direct  opposition  to  this  feature  of 
slavery.  "  Marriage  is  honorable  in  all ;"  "  For  this  cause 
shall  a  "man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  to 
his  wife ;  and  they  shall  be  one  flesh ;"  "  What  God  hath 
joined  together  let  no  man  put  asunder."  A  man  may 
leave  his  father  and  mother,  who  have  a  better  right  to  him 


DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE.  157 

than  any  other  can  have,  and  cleave  to  his  wife ;  but  he  can 
not  leave  his  master  and  cleave  to  his  wife.  The  institution 
of  marriage  allows  parents  no  right  to  hold  their  own  chil- 
dren beyond  mature  age ;  and,  of  course,  they  can  have  no 
right  to  sell  them  to  others  beyond  that  period.  Hence, 
the  Bible  is  against  slavery. 

Moreover,  all  the  denunciations  in  Scripture  leveled 
against  adultery,  fornication,  and  the  like,  will  apply  to  the 
violation  of  the  marriage  covenant  authorized  and  protected 
by  the  laws  of  slavery,  and  very  generally  practiced  in 
slave  states. 

8.  And  here  it  is  just  to  mention,  that  many  slaveholders 
hold  all  these  things  in  as  great  abhorrence  as  any  others 
do.     This  proves  the  very  thing  for  which  we  contend — the 
sinfulness  of  the  slave  system.     Wherever  there  is  an  en- 
lighted  judgment  and  a  pure  conscience,  we  find  the  most 
decided  condemnation  of  these  violations  of  the  marriage 
covenant.     And  when  some  slaveholders  say  they  condemn 
all  these   things,  and  they  are  wrong,  we  believe  them; 
and  this  only  sho-ws  that  conscience  is  on  our  side  of  the 
question,  and  against  the  whole  system.     And  the  crimes 
against   marriage,  which  we  charge  on   slavery,  are   not 
abuses  of  the  system,  but   its  legitimate  operation.      Its 
leading  element,    "the  child  follows  the  condition  of  the 
mother,"  because  the  mother  is  property,  lies  at  the  founda- 
tion of  this  sinful  system  of  slavery. 

9.  As  examples  of  incests  and  the  absence  of  parental 
natural  affection,  necessarily  flowing  from  slavery,  take  the 
following : 

Some  forty  years  ago,  a  gentleman  from  old  Virginia 
settled  near  Lexington,  Kentucky.  He  soon  found  his  need 
of  help  to  cultivate  his  farm,  and  proceeded  to  eastern 
Virginia  to  purchase  slaves.  On  inquiring  from  a  slave- 
breeder  the  price  and  qualities  of  his  boys,  he  was  directed 
to  visit  the  negro  quarters  in  reference  to  the  age  and  quali- 
14 


158  DEPRIVATION  OF  RIGHTS MARRIAGE. 

ties  of  two  young  men  who  seemed  fitted  for  his  purpose. 
On  asking  their  mother  who  their  father  was,  h«  received 
the  following  answer:  "My  master  is  the  father  of  this 
one,  and  my  master's  son  is  the  father  of  the  other."  The 
gentleman  returned  to  the  owner  of  the  slaves,  and  informed 
him  there  was  no  need  of  a  hell  unless  he  would  be  sent 
there.  The  Kentucky  gentleman  determined  from  that  mo- 
ment that  he  would  never  own  a  slave.  Accordingly,  he 
made  no  purchase,  returned  home,  resolved  he  would  never 
raise  a  family  in  a  slave  state,  sold  his  possessions  in  Ken- 
tucky, removed  to  Ohio,  and  his  descendants  are  now  among 
the  most  influential,  wealthy,  and  religious  families  in  the 
state  of  Ohio. 

A  quadroon  and  his  wife,  by  the  name  of  Harris,  now 
reside  in  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  their  four  children.  The 
man  paid  $1,400  to  his  own  father  for  his  wife  and  three 
children,  born  in  slavery.  Thus  the  father  exacted  from 
his  own  son  the  sum  of  $1,400,  for  his  own  son's  wife  and 
his  own  three  grandchildren.  And  all  this  according  to 
the  legitimate  laws  and  the  true  spirit  of  the  slave  system. 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVEEY.  159 


CHAPTER   V. 

DEPRIVATION   OF   EIGHTS CIVIL   DISABILITIES  OF   SLAVEEY  IN- 
VOLVING  INJUSTICE. 

SLAVEEY  deprives  men  of  many  civil  rights,  thus  involv- 
ing great  injustice,  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  infliction 
of  many  and  great  injuries  or  wrongs.  The  most  weighty 
of  these  are  embraced  in  the  following  list : 

1.  A  slave  can  not  be  a  witness  against  a  white  person, 
either  in  a  civil  or  criminal  case. 

2.  A  slave  can  not  be  party  to  a  civil  suit. 

3.  A  slave  can  not  be  a  party  before  a  judicial  tribunal, 
in  any  species  of  action,  against  his  master,  no  matter  how 
atrocious  may  have  been  the  injury  which  he  has  received 
from  him. 

4.  Submission  is  required  of  the  slave,  not  to  the  will 
of  the   master  only,  but  to  the  will  of  all  other  white 
persons. 

5.  A  third  person  may  injure  the  slave;  or  slaves  being 
objects   of   property,  if  injured   by   third    persons,    their 
owners  may  bring  suit  and  recover  damages  for  the  injury. 

6.  Slaves  can  make  no  contracts. 

7.  Slaves  can  not  redeem  themselves,  nor  obtain  a  change 
of  masters,  thougli  cruel  treatment  may  have  rendered  such 
change  necessary  for  their  personal  safety. 

8.  The  laws  of  the  states  prohibiting  emancipation  are 
cruel  to  the  slave,  interfere  with  the  rights  of  conscience 
of  those  well-disposed  masters  who  desire  to  give  freedom 
to  their  slaves,  and  encourage  and  exculpate  the  wicked  in 
their  sins  of  oppression. 

9.  Laws  of  the  United  States  in  regard  to  slavery  arc 
unjust,   cruel,   inconsistent   with   the    Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  at  variance  with  the  principles  of  liberty, 
and  contrary  to  holy  Scripture. 


160  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

la  this  chapter  we  will  endeavor  to  show  the  great  injus- 
tice done  to  the  slaves  by  these  enactments;  and  that  they 
prepare    the    way  for   the   infliction  of   many  injuries   or 
wrongs;  and  that  this  is  sinful  in  the  sight  of  God,  and' 
condemned  by  holy  Scripture. 

1.  A  slave  can  not  be  a  witness  against  a  white  person, 
either  in  a  civil  or  criminal  case. 

"It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  principle,  that  an  African 
can  not  be  a  witness  in  a  case  where  the  parties  are  white 
persons.  In  many  of  the  states  legislative  provision  is  made 
upon  the  subject.  But  the  rule  does  not  extend  to  cases 
where  the  parties  are  negroes  or  slaves.  A  slave  may  be 
a  witness  against  a  slave,  and  even  against  a  free  person 
of  color  in  some  cases.  The  principle  of  exclusion  is 
grounded  on  the  degraded  state  of  the  slave,  and  the 
interest  which  he  may  have  to  conceal  or  deny  the  truth. 
This  rule  prevails  in  all  countries  where  slavery  is  tolerated. 
It  may  be  stated  as  a  principle,  that  in  all  countries  where 
slavery  exists,  and  where  the  rules  of  the  civil  law  have 
been  adopted — and  they  have  been  in  the  Spanish,  Portu- 
guese, and  British  West  Indies,  and  in  the  several  states  of 
the  United  States,  where  it  is  permitted — a  slave  can  not  be 
a  witness  for  or  against  a  white  person  in  a  civil  or  criminal 
case.  This  principle  has  been  adopted  in  all  the  states, 
even  where  no  enactments  are  to  be  found  declaring  them 
incompetent  witnesses.  It  may  be  termed  the  common 
^w  or  custom,  on  account  of  the  universality  of  its  opera- 
tion." (Wheeler,  pp.  193-197;  Stroud,  p.  56.) 

(1.)  The  law  excluding  the  testimony  of  slaves  extends 
also  to  all  colored  persons,  whatever  may  be  the  shade  of 
their  complexion,  whether  bond  or  free.  In  a  few  of  the 
slaveholding  states  the  rule  derives  its  authority  from  cus- 
tom; in  others,  the  legislatures  have  sanctioned  it  by  express 
enactment.  In  Virginia  the  act  reads,  "Any  negro  01 
mulatto,  bond  or  free,  shall  be  a  good  witness  in  pleas  of 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  161 

the  commonwealth  for  or  against  negroes  or  mulattoes, 
bond  or  free,  or  in  civil  pleas  where  free  negroes  or  mu- 
lattoes shall  alone  be  parties ;  and  in  no  other  cases  what- 
ever." A  similar  law  exists  in  Missouri,  Mississippi,  Ken- 
tucky, Alabama,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee. 
And  in  those  states  where  there  are  no  laws,  custom  has 
all  the  authority  of  law. 

(2.)  The  effects  of  this  disability  on  the  colored  people 
are  most  injurious. 

While  this  exclusion  of  the  evidence  of  colored  persons 
prevails,  it  is  of  little  use  to  enact  laws  against  kidnapping. 
The  colored  person,  though  free,  can  not  be  a  witness 
against  the  man  who  steals  him  or  his  children.  But 
change  the  law,  and  kidnapping  would  be  of  easy  detec- 
tion. Thousands  of  free  colored  persons  have  been  en- 
slaved by  the  action  of  this  law  or  custom,  against  the 
testimony  of  colored  persons. 

This  law  places  the  slave,  who,  in  some  states,  is  seldom 
within  the  view  of  more  than  one  white  person  at  a  time, 
entirely  at  the  mercy  of  this  individual.  And  this  white 
individual  may,  with  impunity,  if  no  other  white  person  be 
present,  torture,  maim,  or  murder  the  slave  in  the  midst  of 
any  number  of  mulattoes.  This  is  the  cause  of  the  greatest 
evils  of  slavery.  The  master  or  his  overseer,  if  disposed 
to  commit  illegal  violence  on  the  slave,  may  easily  remove 
him  or  her  to  some  place  where  there  is  no  competent 
witness. 

(3.)  Almost  all  protecting  laws  are  a  nullity,  in  conse- 
quence of  rejecting  the  testimony  of  slaves  or  colored 
persons.  The  most  impartial  slaveholders  acknowledge  this. 
Indeed,  it  can  readily  be  collected  from  their  very  laws. 

Mr.  Dowry  Atley,  Chief  Justice  of  the  island  of  St.  Vin- 
cent, gives  the  following  answer  to  Parliamentary  inquiries 
proposed  to  him,  in  1791:  "The  only  instances  in  which 
their  [slaves]  persons  appear  to  be  protected  by  the  letter 
14* 


1  62  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  th»  law  are  in  cases  of  murder,  dismemberment,  and 
mutilation;  and  in  these  cases,  as  the  evidence  of  slaves  is 
never  admitted  against  a  white  man,  the  difficulty  of  estab- 
lishing the  facts  is  so  great  that  white  men  are,  in  a  manner, 
put  beyond  the  reach  of  the  law."  (See  Stroud,  p.  68.) 

Sir  William  Young,  Governor  of  Tobago,  an  advocate 
for  slavery,  in  1811,  expresses  himself  in  this  manner:  "I 
think  the  slaves  have  no  protection  by  law.  In  this,  and  I 
doubt  not  in  every  other  island,  there  are  laws  for  the  pro- 
tection of  slaves,  and  good  ones;  but  circumstances  in  the 
administration  of  whatever  law  render  it  a  dead  letter. 
When  the  intervention  of  the  law  is  most  required,  it  will 
have  the  least  effect;  as  in  cases  where  a  vindictive  and 
cruel  master  has  the  disposition  to  commit  the  most  atro- 
cious cruelties,  even  to  murder  his  slave,  no  free  person 
being  present  to  witness  the  act.  Humane  laws  for  the 
protection  of  slaves  are  all  rendered  nugatory  by  the  con- 
ditions of  evidence  required  in  their  administration." 

Mr.  Stevens,  in  his  history  of  West  India  slavery,  has 
collected  testimony,  showing  that  all  laws  made  for  the 
protection  of  slaves  are  inefficient,  in  consequence  of  the 
rejection  of  the  testimony  of  slaves. 

The  negro  act  of  South  Carolina  contains  the  following 
preamble  to  one  of  its  sections:  "  Whereas,  by  reason  of 
the  extent  and  distance  of  plantations  in  this  province,  the 
inhabitants  are  far  removed  from  each  other,  and  many 
cruelties  may  be  committed  on  slaves,  because  no  white 
person  may  be  present  to  give  evidence  of  the  same." 
(Stroud,  p.  68.) 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Louisiana,  in  their  decision,  in 
the  case  of  Crawford  vs.  Cherry,  where  the  defendant  was 
sued  for  the  value  of  a  slave  whom  he  had  shot  and  killed, 
(Martin's  La.  Reports,  p.  142;  see  Slavery  As  It  Is,  p. 
149,)  say:  "  The  act  charged  here  is  one  rarely  committed 
in  the  presence  of  witnesses,"  (whites.)  So  in  the  case  of 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  163 

the  state  against  Mann,  (Devereux's  N.  C.  Reports,  p.  263,) 
in  which  the  defendant  was  charged  with  shooting  a  slave 
girl  belonging  to  the  plaintiff,  the  Supreme  Court  of  North 
Carolina,  in  their  decision,  speaking  of  the  provocations  of 
the  master  by  the  slave,  and  the  consequent  wrath  of  the 
master  prompting  him  to  bloody  vengeance,  add,  "A  ven- 
geance generally  practiced  with  impunity  by  reason  of  its 
privacy." 

(4.)  The  remedy  proposed  by  southern  laws  does  not 
accomplish  any  effectual  relief  to  the  slave.  The  law  of 
South  Carolina — the  preamble  of  which  we  have  given — 
declares:  "Be  it  enacted,  that  if  any  slave  shall  suffer  in 
life,  limb,  or  member,  or  shall  be  maimed,  beaten,  or  abused, 
contrary  to  the  directions  and  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
this  act,  when  no  white  person  shall  be  present,  or,  being 
present,  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  give  evidence,  or  be  ex- 
amined upon  oath  concerning  the  same,  in  every  such  case 
the  owner  or  other  person  who  shall  have  the  care  and  gov- 
ernment of  such  slave,  and  in  whose  possession  or  power 
such  slave  shall  be,  shall  be  deemed,  taken,  reported,  and 
adjudged  to  be  guilty  of  such  offense,  and  shall  be  proceeded 
against  accordingly,  without  further  proof,  unless  such  owner 
or  other  person  as  aforesaid,  can  make  the  contrary  appear 
by  good  and  sufficient  evidence,  or  shall  by  his  own  oath 
clear  and  exculpate  himself;  which  oath  every  court,  where 
such  offense  shall  be  tried,  is  hereby  empowered  to  admin- 
ister and  to  acquit  the  offender,  if  clear  proof  of  the  offense 
be  not  made  by  two  witnesses  at  least."  (Stroud,  p.  74.) 
Louisiana  imitates  the  law  of  South  Carolina.  This  law 
seems  to  be  intended,  not  for  the  protection  of  the  slave,  but 
for  the  special  benefit  of  a  cruel  master;  for  the  offender 
must  be  acquitted  upon  his  own  oath,  unless  two  witnesses 
can  be  found  against  him — an  event  not  expected  by  the 
law,  as  the  preamble  and  the  terms  in  the  act  show. 

Hence,  all  the  provisions  of  the  codes  which  profess  to 


164  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

protect  slaves,  are  either  inefficient  or  hypocritical.  The 
laws  profess  to  grant  protection  to  the  slaves,  while  at  the 
same  time  this  law,  that  excludes  their  testimony,  strips 
them  of  the  only  means  by  which  they  can  make  that  pro- 
tection available.  Injuries  must  be  legally  proved  before 
they  can  be  legally  redressed.  Therefore,  to  deprive  men 
of  the  power  of  proving  their  injuries,  is  itself  the  greatest 
injury.  This  law  alone  makes  all  protecting  laws  nugatory. 
How  can  a  slave  prove  outrages  perpetrated  on  him  by  his 
master  or  overseer,  when  his  own  testimony  and  that  of  all 
his  fellow-slaves  is  ruled  out  of  court?  And  the  more  so, 
as  the  slave  is  in  the  power  of  those  who  injure  him,  and 
when  the  only  care  necessary  on  their  part  is,  to  see  that  no 
white  witness  is  looking  on.  Ordinarily  but  one  white  man, 
the  overseer,  is  with  the  slaves  while  they  are  at  labor. 
Hence  it  is  difficult  to  detect,  by  white  witnesses,  the  cruel- 
ties of  the  whites  on  their  slaves.  The  law  of  South 
Carolina  is  a  specimen.  It  supposes  only  one  white  man 
on  the  plantation.  And  even  then  it  requires  two  white 
witnesses  to  testify  to  the  third  white  man,  when  it  is  very 
unusual  for  more  than  the  overseer  alone  to  be  present. 
This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  injustice  of  slavery. 

(5.)  It  may  not  now  be  improper  to  see  upon  what  reason 
the  exclusion  of  colored  persons  as  competent  witnesses  is 
founded. 

It  is  stated  that  "  the  admission  of  the  testimony  of 
slaves  would  be  dangerous  to  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the 
whites."  This  charge  would  imply  that  there  is  a  total 
absence  of  veracity  among  the  slaves,  which  is  absurd. 
And  its  absurdity  is  acknowledged,  by  the  fact,  that  slaves 
are  competent  witnesses,  not  only  against  each  other,  but 
against  free  persons  of  color,  Avithout  any  restriction.  If 
the  objection  is  restrained  to  the  testimony  of  the  slave 
against  his  master,  it  presumes  the  predominance  of  the 
utmost  depravity  of  heart  in  the  slave.  To  concede  this  is 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  165 

to  impute  criminal  negligence  to  the  master;  for  having 
absolute  dominion  over  the  slave,  he  has,  after  all,  neglected 
his  moral  and  religious  instruction  and  training. 

It  may  be  said,  the  "hope  of  gain"  would  induce  the 
slave  to  testify  falsely.  This  objection,  if  valid,  degrades 
the  master  below  the  level  of  the  slave,  in  cases  in  which 
the  master's  interests  are  concerned. 

The  fear  of  punishment,  in  general,  is  a  serious  difficulty, 
and  perhaps  can  not  be  well  allowed,  in  compassion  to  the 
slave,  while  slavery  exists.  For  the  master  may  inflict 
severe  punishment  on  the  slave,  if  the  latter,  though  testify- 
ing the  truth,  testifies  against  his  master;  and  probably, 
while  slavery  continues,  it  would  be  mercy  to  relieve  him 
from  telling  the  truth  against  his  owner  and  oppressor. 
But  this  shows  the  evil  nature  of  slavery,  which  will  not 
admit  the  truth  to  be  uttered  concerning  its  doings. 

To  all  or  most  of  the  objections  against  the  slaves'  testi- 
mony, trial  by  jury  is  an  ample  refutation.  There  are  cases 
among  whites  in  which  the  testimony  of  certain  persons  is 
rejected ;  but  then  this  does  not  amount  to  any  such  exclu- 
sion as  is  applied  to  slaves.  And  trial  by  jury  will  certainly 
relieve  the  difficulty  in  the  case  of  free  colored  persons,  as 
well  as  in  the  case  of  white  persons  of  equal  credibility. 
In  the  various  courts  great  vigilance  is  necessary,  in  refer- 
ence to  white  persons,  in  detecting  the  falsities  of  testimony. 
The  same  care  \vould  meet  the  case  of  free  colored  persons 
effectually,  and  most  of  those  in  which  slaves  are  concerned. 

And  in  the  cases  in  which  truth  would  suffer  by  the  tes- 
timony of  slaves,  the  system  of  slavery  is  to  bear  the  entire 
blame  of  this,  as  it  throws  in  its  terrors  and  cruelties  to 
prevent  the  utterance  of  truth,  which  would  condemn  the 
guilty. 

(6.)  The  inability  of  slaves  and  free  colored  persons  to 
bear  testimony  in  the  United  States  is  without  parallel  in 
the  history  of  the  world. 


166  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

No  such  incompetency  was  sanctioned  by  the  Jewish  law- 
giver. The  law  of  Moses  mentions  the  number  of  witnesses 
required  to  establish  the  truth,  but  is  silent  as  to  any  incom- 
petency on  the  part  of  slaves.  (Deut.  xvii,  6,  and  xix,  15.) 
The  judges  were  empowered  to  decide  upon  the  credibility 
of  witnesses ;  to  proceed  against  those  who  testified  falsely 
in  a  summary  way ;  and  to  inflict  punishment  on  them  when 
they  testified  falsely. 

The  villenage  of  England  furnished  no  authority  for  the 
universal  application  of  this  rule.  Even  the  civil  law,  which 
generally  excluded  slave  testimony,  makes  so  many  import- 
ant exceptions  as  to  admit  such  testimony  on  special  occa- 
sions. This  rule  of  evidence,  to  the  extent  to  which  it 
obtains  in  the  United  States,  can  not  challenge  for  its  support 
the  authority  of  any  country,  either  ancient  or  modern, 
For  it  is  not  the  evidence  of  slaves  only  that  is  rejected, 
but  also  of  all  free  colored  persons. 

(7.)  There  is  a  peculiar  viciousness  in  the  system  of 
slavery,  in  rejecting  the  testimony  of  slaves  and  colored 
persons.  The  admission  of  false  witnesses  is,  in  Scripture, 
denounced  as  one  of  the  most  horrible  crimes.  And  Satan 
himself,  the  father  of  lies,  is  the  father  of  the  liar.  Now, 
to  reject  true  testimony  is  the  same  crime,  in  effect,  as  the 
admission  of  false  testimony.  So  slavery,  in  rejecting  the 
true,  admits  the  false.  Although  murder,  rapes,  cruelties, 
and  whippings  of  all  kinds,  are  constantly  perpetrated  on 
the  persons  of  slaves,  all  must  be  borne  without  redress, 
because  the  only  witnesses  are  pronounced  incompetent. 
And  can  such  a  system,  which  comprises  this  wicked  rule, 
be  itself  other  than  sinful  ?  Certainly,  according  to  the 
Bible,  such  crimes  are  pronounced  as  heinous  sins. 

2.  "A  slave  can  not  be  a  party  to  a  civil  suit."  (Stroud, 
p.  76.)  "A  slave  can  not  stand  in  judgment  for  any  other 
purpose  than  to  assert  his  freedom.  He  is  not  even  allowed 
to  contest  the  title  of  the  person  holding  or  claiming  him  as 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  167 

a  slave."  (Berard  vs.  Berard,  et  a?.,  February  term,  1836, 
9  La.  Reports,  156;  see  Wheeler,  197.) 

(1.)  As  the  slave  can  not  acquire  or  retain  property,  as 
his  own,  contrary  to  the  will  of  his  master,  it  results  that 
he  can  not  be  a  party  to  a  civil  suit ;  for  there  is  no  species 
of  civil  suit  which  does  not,  in  some  way,  affect  property. 
Wheeler  presents  this  point  as  follows :  "  Slaves  are  them- 
selves considered  as  property,  and  can  neither  take,  possess, 
nor  retain  any,  except  for  the  use  of  their  masters.  A  slave 
can  not  be  a  party  to  a  civil  suit,  except  in  the  single  case 
where  the  negro  is  held  as  a.  slave,  and  he  claims  to  be  free. 
It  would  be  an  idle  form  and  ceremony  to  make  a  slave  a 
party  to  a  suit,  by  the  instrumentality  of  which  he  could 
recover  nothing ;  or  if  a  recovery  could  be  had,  the  instant 
it  was  recovered  would  belong  to  the  master.  The  slave 
can  possess  nothing ;  he  can  hold  nothing.  He  is,  therefore, 
not  a  competent  party  to  a  suit.  And  the  same  rule  pre- 
vails wherever  slavery  is  tolerated,  whether  there  be  legisla- 
tive enactments  upon  the  subject  or  not.  In  all  cases  where 
the  slave  alleges  he  is  free,  of  course  he  is  a  party.  He 
may  have  a  habeas  corpus,  and  if  there  may  be  a  false 
return,  may  sue  upon  it.  Or  he  may  bring  trespass  for 
assault  and  battery,  and  false  imprisonment,  to  which 
action,  the  defendant,  to  justify  himself,  must  plead  the 
negro  is  his  slave.  In  many  of  the  states,  he  may  proceed 
by  petition  for  freedom."  (Wheeler's  Law  of  Slavery, 
p.  197.) 

(2.)  There  is,  however,  an  exception  to  this  rule,  given  by 
the  laws  of  all  the  slaveholding  states  to  persons  held  as 
slaves,  but  claiming  to  be  free,  to  prosecute  their  claims  to 
freedom  before  some  judicial  tribunal.  The  law  of  South 
Carolina — which  is  in  substance  adopted  by  other  states — 
allows  the  person  claimed,  or  his  attorney,  to  sue  for  free- 
dom ;  and  if  the  suit  be  gained,  the  person  claiming  the 
slave  is  cast  in  the  cost.  But  if  the  unfortunate  man  claimed 


168  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

as  a  slave  can  not  make  good  his  cause,  the  following  is  the 
law:  "But  in  case  judgment  shall  be  given  for  the  defend- 
ant, the  said  court  is  hereby  fully  empowered  to  inflict  such 
corporeal  punishment,  not  extending  to  life  or  limb,  on  the 
word  of  the  plaintiff,  as  they  in  their  discretion  shall  think 
fit.  Provided,  that  in  any  action  or  suit  to  be  brought  in 
pursuance  of  the  direction  of  this  act,  the  burden  of  the 
proof  shall  lay  on  the  plaintiff;  and  it  shall  be  always  pre- 
sumed that  every  negro,  Indian,  mulatto,  and  mestizo,  is  a 
slave,  unless  the  contrary  be  made  to  appear."  (See 
Stroud.  p.  77.) 

(3.)  Every  one  must  see  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  this 
law.  "  The  negro  claims  to  be  free,  and  yet  he  can  bring 
no  suit  to  investigate  his  master's  title  to  restrain  him  of  his 
liberty,  unless  some  one  can  be  found  merciful  enough  to 
become  his  guardian,  subject  in  any  event  to  the  expense 
and  trouble  of  conducting  his  cause,  and  in  case  of  a  failure, 
to  the  cost  of  suit.  His  judges  and  jurors  will,  in  all  proba- 
bility, be  slaveholders,  and  interested,  therefore,  in  some 
measure,  in  the  question  which  they  are  to  try.  The  whole 
community  in  which  he  lives  may,  so  few  are  the  exceptions, 
be  said  to  be  hostile  to  his  success.  Being  a  negro,  by  the 
words  of  the  act,  the  burden  of  proof  rests  upon  him,  and 
he  is  presumed  to  be  a  slave  till  he  make  the  contrary 
appear.  This  is  to  be  effected  through  the  instrumentality 
of  white  witnesses,  as  has  just  been  shown,  exclusive  of  the 
testimony  of  those  who  are  not  white,  even  though  they 
may  be  free,  and  of  the  fairest  character.  And,  lastly,  not- 
withstanding all  these  obstacles  to  the  ascertaining  of  the 
truth  of  his  allegations,  the  terror  is  superadded,  should  he 
not  succeed  in  convincing  the  judge  of  his  right  to  freedom, 
of  an  infliction  of  corporeal  punishment  to  any  extent  short 
of  capital  execution,  or  the  deprivation  of  a  LIMB  !  And  in 
Georgia,  should  death  happen  by  accident  in  giving  this 
legal  correction,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  constitution 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  169 

already  quoted,  it  will  be  no  crime !  Such  legislation  forci- 
bly reminds  us  of  the  feast  of  Dionysius,  which  was  supreme 
beneficence,  compared  with  the  terms  of  mercy  contained  in 
this  act."  (Stroud,  pp.  77-79.) 

(4.)  In  South  Carolina,  by  an  act  of  1802,  the  white  man 
who  carries  on  the  suit  in  behalf  of  the  colored  man,  "  shall 
be  liable  to  double  costs  of  suit,  if  his  action  shall  be  ad- 
judged groundless ;  and  shall  be  liable  to  pay  to  the  bona 
fide  owner  of  such  slave,  all  such  damages  as  shall  be 
assessed  by  a  jury  and  adjudged  by  any  court  of  common 
pleas."  In  Maryland,  the  attorney,  in  a  trial  for  freedom, 
must  pay  all  costs,  if  unsuccessful,  unless  the  court  shall  be 
of  opinion  that  there  was  probable  cause  for  supposing  the 
petitioner  had  a  right  to  freedom.  And  on  such  a  trial  the 
master  is  allowed  twelve  peremptory  challenges  as  to  the 
jury.  In  Virginia,  if  the  claimant  shall  fail  in  his  suit  a  fine 
of  $100  is  imposed.  In  Missouri  a  poor  person  may,  with- 
out cost,  ask  for  a  trial ;  yet  it  depends  on  the  court,  or  a 
single  judge,  whether  the  petitioner  shall  be  heard  by  a 
jury  at  all.  In  Alabama  the  Legislature  has  adopted  the 
objectionable  parts  of  the  Missouri  law,  while  the  beneficial 
provisions  have  been  omitted.  (See  Stroud,  p.  78,  note.) 

SPEECH  OF  A  SLAVE  AT  HIS  TRIAL. — The  following  striking 
anecdote  is  found  in  the  journal  of  a  traveler.  In  relating 
it,  we  do  not  justify  the  slave.  We  leave  that  to  those  who 
are  ready  to  fight  for  their  own  liberty,  while  they  are 
willing  to  withhold  liberty  from  others. 

"In  the  afternoon  I  passed  by  a  field  in  which  several 
poor  slaves  had  been  executed,  on  the  charge  of  having  an 
intention  to  rise  against  their  masters.  A  lawyer  who  was 
present  at  their  trials  at  Richmond,  informed  me,  that  one 
of  them  being  asked  what  he  had  to  say  to  the  court,  in  his 
defense,  replied  in  a  manly  tone  of  voice :  '  I  have  nothing 
more  to  offer  than  what  General  Washington  would  have 
had  to  offer,  had  he  been  taken  by  the  British,  and  put  to 
15 


170  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

trial  by  them.  I  have  adventured  my  life  in  endeavoring 
to  obtain  the  liberty  of  my  countrymen,  and  am  a  willing 
sacrifice  in  their  cause ;  and  I  beg,  as  a  favor,  that  I  may  be 
immediately  led  to  execution.  I  know  that  you  have  pre- 
determined to  shed  my  blood :  why  then  all  this  mockery 
of  a  trial  ?'  "  (Sutcliff 's  Travels.) 

The  unjust  sentiment  which  presumes  every  negro  to  be 
a  slave,  obtains  in  all  the  slaveholding  states,  unless  perhaps 
one.  In  Virginia  there  is  no  statute,  yet  there  are  judicial 
decisions  which  amount  to  the  same.  Chancellor  Wythe 
decided,  "  that  whenever  one  person  claims  to  hold  another 
in  slavery,  the  onus  probandi  [burden  of  proof]  lies  on  the 
claimant."  The  supreme  court  of  appeals  reversed  this  de- 
cision, and  determined  that  his  reasoning  was  applicable 
only  to  "  white  persons  and  native  American  Indians,"  but 
entirely  inapplicable  to  "native  Africans  and  their  descend- 
ants." (Stroud,  pp.  79,  80.)  In  North  Carolina  the  doctrine 
is  confined  to  the  full-blooded  African. 

(5.)  This  process  of  arresting  real  or  suspected  runaways 
is  a  fruitful  source  of  man-stealing.  The  white  man  who 
can  exhibit  a  colored  man  in  his  custody,  within  the  limits 
of  a  slaveholding  state,  is  exempted  from  the  necessity  of 
making  any  proof  how  he  obtained  him,  or  by  what  authority 
he  claims  him  as  a  slave.  The  colored  man,  by  the  laws 
of  the  land,  is  presumed  to  be  a  slave.  Hence,  the  man- 
stealer  is  protected  in  his  robbery  by  the  laws  which  uphold 
slavery. 

By  the  laws  of  several  slave  states  manumitted  and 
other  free  persons  of  color  may  be  arrested  while  in  the 
pursuit  of  lawful  business.  If  documentary  evidence  be  not 
produced  immediately  proving  them  free,  they  are  thrown 
into  prison,  and  advertised  as  runaways.  And  as  there  is 
no  owner  to  appear  in  these  cases,  the  jailer,  after  a  limited 
time,  is  directed  to  sell  them  at  public  auction,  as  unclaimed 
fugitive  slaves,  in  order  to  pay  for  their  unjust  detention  in 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  171 

prison.     Thus  freemen  and  their  posterity  are  doomed  to 
perpetual  slavery. 

(6.)  Now,  if  these  acts  of  injustice  are  not  sinful,  then 
there  is  no  sin  in  the  world.  Man-stealing  can  not  be  sinful, 
if  slavery  is  right.  And  to  rob  a  man  of  his  inalienable 
rights  can  not  be  sinful,  if  slavery  be  not  a  system  founded 
and  continued  by  sin. 

3.  "A  slave  can  not  be  a  party  before  a  judicial  tribunal 
in  any  species  of  action,  against  his  master,  no  matter  how 
atrocious  may  have  been  the  injury  which  he  has  received 
from  him."     (Stroud,  p.  57.) 

4.  "Submission  is  required  of  the  slave,  not  to  the  will 
of  his  master  only,  but  to  the  will  of  all  other  white  per- 
sons."    (Stroud,  p.  97.) 

An  act  of  Georgia  declares,  "If  any  slave  shall  presume 
to  strike  any  white  person,  such  slave,  upon  trial  and  con- 
viction before  the  justice  or  justices,  according  to  the  direc- 
tions of  this  act,  shall,  for  the  first  offense,  suffer  such 
punishment  as  the  said  justice  or  justices  shall,  in  his  or 
their  discretion,  think  fit,  not  extending  to  life  or  limb ;  and 
for  the  second  offense  suffer  death."  (Stroud,  p.  97.)  The 
law  of  South  Carolina  is  the  same,  except  that  death  is  not 
made  the  penalty  of  the  second  but  of  the  third  offense. 
But,  in  both  states,  when  the  slave  strikes  the  white  per- 
son, by  the  command  or  in  defense  of  the  master,  the 
master  shall  be  answerable,  as  if  the  act  was  committed  by 
himself. 

In  Maryland,  for  such  an  offense,  the  offender's  ears  may 
be  cut  off,  though  he  be  a  free  black.  (Stroud,  p.  97.) 

In  Kentucky,  the  slave  or  free  colored  person,  for  every 
such  offense  "shall  receive  thirty  lashes  on  his  or  her  bare 
back,  well  laid  on,  by  order  of  such  justice."  In  Virginia 
there  was  a  similar  law,  to  which,  in  1792,  it  was  added, 
"  Except  in  those  cases  where  it  shall  appear  to  such  justice 
that  such  negro  or  mulatto  was  wantonly  assaulted,  and 


172  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

lifted  his  or  her  hand  in  his  or  her  defense."  (Stroud, 
p.  98.) 

Associated  with  the  foregoing,  is  the  following  act  of 
Louisiana  respecting  colored  persons.  "Free  people  of 
color  ought  never"  to  insult  or  strike  white  people,  nor  pre- 
sume to  conceive  themselves  equal  to  the  whites;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  they  ought  to  yield  to  them  on  every  occasion, 
and  never  speak  or  answer  them  but  with  respect,  under 
the  penalty  of  imprisonment,  according  to  the  nature  of 
the  offense."  (Stroud,  p.  98.) 

By  the  laws  of  Maryland  and  South  Carolina,  if  the 
slave  resist  being  examined  or  seized  by  any  white  person, 
the  slave  may  be  lawfully  killed.  (Stroud,  p.  99.) 

Slavery  requires  unbounded  submission  from  the  slave  to 
his  master.  The  life  of  the  slave  is  in  the  power  of  the 
master ;  and  yet  the  slave  must  not  resist,  even  to  save  his 
life.  Not  only  so,  but  the  slave  is  under  the  like  submis- 
sion to  every  white  person,  with  little  reference  to  character 
or  motives.  These  laws  furnish  either  a  pretext  or  an 
inducement  to  ignoble  minds  to  tyrannize  over  and  oppress 
the  defenseless  slave,  who  is  compelled  to  endure  every 
personal  injury  which  any  white  person  may  inflict. 

5.  A  third  person  may  injure  the  slave.  Slaves  being 
property,  if  injured  by  third  persons,  their  owners  may 
bring  suit  and  recover  damages  for  the  injury.  This  is  a 
maxim  of  the  common  law,  with  respect  to  property  in  gen- 
eral, and  it  therefore  applies  to  slaves  in  general,  wherever 
they  exist.  The  law  does  not  operate  as  a  shield  to  the 
slave  against  corporeal  injury,  unless  the  violence  used  dete- 
riorates the  value  of  the  slave.  The  purpose  of  the  law  is 
not  the  protection  of  the  slave,  but  of  the  master's  right  of 
property.  And  though  this  is  proclaimed  to  be  a  sufficient 
protection  to  the  slave,  it  would  be  more  just  to  say,  that  it  is 
the  only  protection  granted  to  him.  The  chastity  of  a  female 
slave  may  be  violated,  the  person  of  the  slave  assaulted; 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  178 

but  if  the  pecuniary  value  of  the  slave  be  not  injured,  then 
all  is  well  enough. 

6.  Slaves  can  make  no  contracts.     A  slave  can  not  con- 
tract matrimony;   the  association  among  them,  sometimes 
called  marriage,  is,  as  before  observed,  properly  called  con- 
tubernium,  or  concubinage,  to  which   no  sanctity  or  civil 
rights  are  attached.    The  slave  can  not  buy,  or  sell,  or  trade. 
He  can  not  hire  himself.     The  slave  can  not  inherit  any 
property  by  descent  or  purchase.     It  is  true,  benevolent 
masters  often  permit  them  to  make  gains  in  various  ways; 
but  this  is  not  done  with  the  permission,  much  less  the 
authority  of  law,  but  is  rather  a  violation  of  it.     Besides, 
these  are  only  small  perquisites,  which  never  amount  to  any 
thing  like  independence,  or  the  acquisition  of  wealth  or  per- 
manent property.     (Stroud,  pp.  45-50  and  61,  62.) 

7.  Slaves  can  not  redeem  themselves,  nor  obtain  a  change 
of  masters,  though  cruel  treatment  may  have  rendered  such 
change  necessary  to  their  personal  safety. 

This  proposition  holds  good  as  to  the  right  of  redemption 
in  all  the  slaveholding  states.  And  it  is  equally  true  in 
regard  to  the  change  of  masters,  except  in  Louisiana.  In 
this  state  a  slave  may  demand  a  change  of  masters  for  cruel 
treatment,  provided  the  master  can  be  convicted  of  this 
crime,  or  the  judge  will  deem  it  proper  to  allow  it;  two 
conditions  that  can  rarely  be  found  to  exist.  The  words  of 
the  act  are :  "  When  the  master  shall  be  convicted  of  cruel 
treatment  of  his  slave,  and  the  judge  shall  deem  it  proper 
to  pronounce,  besides  the  penalty  established  for  such  cases, 
that  the  slave  shall  be  sold  at  public  auction,  in  order  to 
place  him  out  of  the  reaeh  of  the  power  which  his  master 
has  abused." 

8.  The  laws  preventing  emancipation  in  general,  and  re- 
straining it  in  cases  in  which  it  is  allowed,  are  at  variance 
with  the  principles  of  justice. 

(1.)  The  master's  benevolence  to  his  slave  can  not  be 
15* 


174  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

exercised  by  emancipation,  without  the  consent  of  his  cred- 
itors. This  is  a  principle  pervading  every  code  in  the  slave- 
holding  states. 

In  Virginia  and  Mississippi  an  emancipated  slave  may  bo 
taken  in  execution,  to  satisfy  any  debt  contracted  by  the 
person  emancipating  him  previous  to  such  emancipation. 
In  Kentucky  the  act  contains  a  saving  of  the  right  of  cred- 
itors. The  new  civil  code  of  Louisiana  amounts  to  the 
same.  (Stroud,  p.  146.) 

In  addition  to  the  obstacle  of  emancipation,  which  is 
created  by  the  saving  clause  in  favor  of  creditors,  a  similar 
one  exists  in  reference  to  the  widows  of  deceased  slave- 
holders. If  the  widow's  thirds  are  not  met  in  the  real 
estate,  then  the  slaves,  though  manumitted  by  the  husband, 
are  held  as  liable,  and  may  be  sold  to  make  up  the  third. 
(Stroud,  p.  146.) 

(2.)  The  most  formidable  difficulties  to  emancipation  arise 
from  the  mode  by  which  it  may  be  effected.  In  some  states 
it  is  only  by  special  legislative  acts  that  a  valid  emancipa- 
tion can  be  effected.  In  other  states  there  are  general  acts 
under  which  emancipation  can  be  effected. 

In  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi, 
emancipation  can  take  place  only  by  a  special  act  in  each 
case.  The  slaveholder  can  not,  in  these  states,  get  rid  of 
his  slaves,  unless  he  sell  them  as  chattels,  or  can  obtain 
the  special  act  of  the  legislature  authorizing  emancipation, 
a  thing  very  rarely  granted.  Or  even  if  he  permits  the 
slave  to  work  for  himself,  he  is  fined. 

In  Georgia,  by  the  act  of  1801,  an  attempt  to  set  a  negro 
free,  except  by  legislative  act,  incurs  a  fine  of  $200  for 
every  such  offense ;  and  "  the  slaves  so  manumitted  and  set 
free  shall  be  still,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  much  in  a 
state  of  slavery  as  before  they  were  manumitted."  And 
by  the  act  of  1818  it  was  determined  that  any  master, 
who,  by  will  and  testament,  deed,  or  otherwise,  whether  by 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  176 

way  of  trust  or  otherwise,  would  attempt  to  confer  freedom 
on  the  slave,  or  secure  to  the  slave  the  right  of  working  for 
himself,  the  master  may  be  fined  in  a  sum  not  exceeding 
$1,000,  and  such  slave,  may  be  sold  at  public  outcry. 
(Stroud,  pp.  147,  148.) 

In  Mississippi  all  the  obstacles  found  in  all  the  states, 
seemed  to  be  combined  and  set  in  array  against  freedom,  as 
if  it  was  the  greatest  mischief  in  the  world.  Thus,  the 
emancipation  must  be  by  an  instrument  in  writing,  a  last 
will  or  deed,  etc.,  under  seal,  attested  by  at  least  two  credi- 
ble witnesses,  or  acknowledged  in  the  court  of  the  county 
or  corporation  where  the  emancipator  resides ;  proof  satis- 
factory to  the  General  Assembly  must  be  adduced  that  the 
slave  has  done  some  meritorious  act  for  the  benefit  of  his 
master,  or  rendered  some  distinguished  service  to  the  state ; 
all  which  circumstances  are  but  prerequisites,  and  one  of 
no  efficacy  till  a  special  act  of  Assembly  sanctions  the 
emancipation;  to  which  may  be  added,  a  saving  of  the 
rights  of  creditors,  and  the  protection  of  the  widow's  thirds. 
(Stroud,  p.  149.) 

(3.)  In  some  states  emancipation  may  be  effected  under 
general  acts  of  the  legislature,  as  in  North  Carolina,  Ten- 
nessee, Kentucky,  Missouri,  Maryland,  and  Virginia. 

The  law  of  North  Carolina,  of  1777,  enacts,  "That  no 
negro  or  mulatto  slave  shall  hereafter  be  set  free,  except  for 
meritorious  services,  to  be  adjudged  of  and  allowed  by  the 
county  court,  and  license  first  had  and  obtained  thereupon." 
And  if  a  slave  should  be  set  free  in  any  other  manner,  the 
slave  may  then  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder  by  the  sheriff. 
(Stroud,  p.  148.) 

The  law  of  Tennessee  is  the  same  with  that  of  North 
Carolina,  except  an  additional  proviso,  enacted  in  1801, 
which  required  the  emancipation  to  be  "consistent  with 
the  interest  and  policy  of  the  state."  (Stroud,  p.  149.) 

Kentucky,  in  1798,  enacted  the  following  law,  which  is 


176  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

still  in  force:  "It  shall  be  lawful  for  any  person,  by  his 
or  her  last  will  and  testament,  or  by  any  other  instrument 
in  writing,  under  his  or  her  hand  and  seal,  attested  and 
proved  in  the  county  court  by  two  witnesses,  or  acknowl- 
edged by  the  party  in  the  court  of  the  county  where  he  or 
she  resides,  to  emancipate  or  set  free  his  or  her  slave  or 
slaves,  who  shall  thereupon  be  entirely  and  fully  discharged 
from  the  performance  of  any  contract  entered  into  during 
their  servitude,  and  enjoy  their  full  freedom,  as  if  they  had 
been  born  free.  And  the  said  court  shall  have  full  power 
to  demand  bond  and  sufficient  security  of  the  emancipator, 
his  or  her  executors,  etc.,  for  the  maintenance  of  any  slave 
or  slaves  that  may  be  aged  or  infirm,  either  of  body  or 
mind,  to  prevent  him,  her,  or  them  becoming  chargeable  to 
the  county;  and  every  slave  so  emancipated  shall  have  a 
certificate  of  his  freedom  from  the  clerk  of  such  court  on 
parchment,  with  the  county  seal  affixed  thereto,  etc.,  saving, 
however,  the  rights  of  creditors." 

The  law  of  Missouri  is  substantially  the  same  with  the 
law  of  Kentucky.  (Stroud,  pp.  149,  150.)  In  these  states 
there  is  certainly  no  serious  restraint  on  those  who  are  dis- 
posed to  set  their  slaves  at  liberty. 

In  Virginia  the  law  is  similar  to  the  laws  of  Kentucky 
and  Missouri,  with  the  following  inhuman  proviso :  "  If  any 
emancipated  slave — infants  excepted — shall  remain  within 
the  state  more  than  twelve  months  after  his  or  her  right  to 
freedom  shall  have  accrued,  he  or  she  shall  forfeit  all  such 
right,  and  may  be  apprehended  and  sold  by  the  overseers 
of  the  poor,  etc.,  for  the  benefit  of  the  literary  fund." 
(Stroud,  p.  18.) 

Emancipation  in  Maryland  may  be  effected  by  deed  or 
will,  duly  attested.  The  decision  of  Maryland  is  in  con- 
formity with  the  law  of  villenage,  as  well  as  the  civil  law. 
But  such  an  emancipation  in  North  or  South  Carolina  is 
utterly  void. 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY.  1 

In  Louisiana,  except  "  a  slave  who  has  saved  the  life  of 
his  master,  his  master's  wife,  or  one  of  his  children,"  none 
can  be  set  at  liberty  under  the  age  of  thirty  years.  Per- 
sons over  this  age  may-  be  emancipated  by  a  last  will, 
hemmed  in  by  considerable  obstructions.  If  it  be  by  deed, 
it  must  be  after  being  forty  days  publicly  advertised,  and 
no  opposition  being  made  to  it — a  condition  that  will  rarely 
be  favorable  to  emancipation  among  a  community  of  slave- 
holders. Neverthless,  Louisiana  has  a  mildness  in  this  mat- 
ter beyond  most  other  of  the  far  southern  states,  although 
her  code,  as  a  whole,  is  nearly  a  perfect  barrier  against 
emancipation."  (Stroud,  p.  153,  154.) 

Wheeler,  in  a  note  on  his  chapter  on  emancipation,  says : 
"  It  will  be  seen  by  this  chapter,  that  the  owner  of  slaves 
may  emancipate  them  by  deed,  will,  or  by  contract  exe- 
cuted. But  to  this  benevolence  of  the  owner  there  are,  in 
the  most  of  the  states,  restraints  upon  the  exercise  of  this 
power  by  the  owner.  Slaves  are  recognized,  wherever  the 
system  is  tolerated,  as  property,  and  are  subject  to  all  the 
rules  in  the  acquisition,  possession,  and  transmission  of 
property.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  upon  a  first  view  of 
the  case,  that  the  owner  should  do  with  his  property  what- 
ever he  pleased,  and  should  have  the  privilege  of  renouncing 
his  right  to  it  whenever  he  pleased,  and  without  being  qual- 
ified by  any  public  laws  or  regulations  upon  the  subject. 
Such,  however,  is  not  the  fact;  restraints  upon  this  right 
exist  in  nearly  all  the  states.  When  it  is  considered  that 
slaves  are  a  peculiar  species  of  property,  it  will  not  excite 
surprise  that  laws  are  necessary  for  their  regulation,  and 
to  protect  society  from  even  the  benevolence  of  slave- 
owners, in  throwing  among  the  community  a  great  number 
of  stupid,  ignorant,  and  vicious  persons,  to  disturb  its  peace 
and  to  endanger  its  permanency."  (Wheeler,  pp.  386-388.) 

(4.)  The  moral  evils  chargeable  on  the  laws  which  pre- 
vent, discourage,  or  embarrass  emancipation  are  numerous 


1*78  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OP  SLAVERY. 

and  aggravating,  and  can  not  be  reconciled  with  common 
justice  or  the  Bible. 

First.  The  impediments  to  emancipation  interfere  with 
the  rights  of  property,  according  to  the  southern  definition 
of  property.  As  the  right  of  property  in  the  slave  belongs 
to  the  master,  it  is  plain  that  the  master  ought,  at  his 
pleasure,  relinquish  his  right  to  the  slave  whenever  he 
pleases ;  and  to  restrain  this  right  of  disposing  of  property 
is  as  inconsistent  as  to  prevent  from  acquiring  it.  The 
laws,  therefore,  which  prohibit  or  restrain  emancipation 
are  unconstitutional  in  the  states  which  enact  and  enforce 
them. 

Second.  This  also  interferes  with  the  rights  of  conscience. 
By  these  laws  the  slave-owner  must  continue  a  slave-owner, 
however  his  conscience  may  accuse  him  of  wrong  for  being 
an  owner  of  his  fellow-beings.  The  Bible  enjoins  on  the 
conscience  to  avoid  oppression  and  wrong  of  every  kind ; 
and  yet  the  system  of  slavery,  in  most  states,  prevents  men 
from  acting  according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience. 

Third.  Hence,  those  laws  which  prohibit  or  restrain 
emancipation  encourage  and  maintain  sinful  oppression  of 
men;  for  the  action  of  state  legislatures  and  grateful  mas- 
ters, who  have  emancipated  slaves  for  meritorious  services, 
prove  that  holding  innocent  men  in  slavery  is  sinful.  Every 
such  emancipation  is  an  attestation  that  slavery  is  wrong, 
and  liberty  is  a  good.  When  slaves  are  freed  for  mer- 
itorious services,  liberty,  by  this  act,  is  declared  to  be  the 
highest  gift  which  can  be  bestowed  on  the  slaves.  He, 
therefore,  who  holds  slaves,  holds  them  in  deprivation  of 
what  slave  legislatures  have  declared  a  blessing  to  them. 
Slaveholders,  therefore,  by  granting  freedom  as  a  reward, 
admit  that  slavery  punishes  the  innocent,  and  is  therefore 
sinful. 

Fourth.  The  consequence  of  this  embargo  laid  on  the 
consciences  of  citizens  has  been,  that  multitudes  of  the  best 


CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLA.VKKT.  179 

citizens  of  the  slaveholding  states  have  been  induced  to 
abandon  their  native  states,  and  settle  in  free  states,  in 
order  to  be  relieved  from  this  antichristian  necessity,  laid 
on  them  by  unjust  laws.  •  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Iowa, 
especially  the  southern  portions  of  these  states,  have  been 
replenished  with  large  numbers  of  refugees  from  the  unjust 
laws  of  slavery — especially  the  law  which  prohibits,  em- 
barrasses, or  restrains  emancipation. 

Nor  are  the  southern  states  recompensed  by  the  many 
emigrants  from  the  free  states,  should  their  number  ever 
be  equal.  These  northern  men,  who,  though  trained  in 
the  principles  of  freedom,  throw  away  their  conscientious 
scruples,  are  men  of  the  worst  character;  hence,  being 
without  conscientious  control,  they  become  the  worst  mas- 
ters. This  is  the  history  of  the  world.  In  every  country 
those  who  were  raised  non-slaveholders  are  the  worst  mas- 
ters; for  the  plain  reason,  that,  in  becoming  masters,  they 
knowingly  and  deliberately  act  contrary  to  their  convictions 
of  right ;  and  doing  it  in  this  case,  they  will  do  it  in  others. 
The  love  of  gain  made  them  slaveholders ;  the  love  of  more 
gain  makes  them  the  worst  class  of  slaveholders.  He  that 
is  a  slaveholder  by  education,  or  by  inheritance,  is  much 
more  likely  to  be  humane  than  he  who  is  a  slaveholder  for 
the  sake  of  gain,  as  most  of  the  northern  men  are  who  are 
slaveholders.  The  south,  then,  lose  their  good  men,  and 
receive  in  their  place  a  bad  class  of  men,  very  little  under 
the  control  of  conscience. 

Fifth.  We  shall  notice  the  plea  of  slaveholders,  taken 
from  their  mouth  by  Mr.  Wheeler,  that  restraining  laws  are 
necessary  "to  protect  society  from  even  the  benevolence  of 
slave- owners,  in  throwing  into  the  community  a  great  num- 
ber of  stupid,  ignorant,  and  vicious  persons,  to  disturb  its 
peace,  and  to  endanger  its  permanency."  The  slave  system 
can  not  allow  of  the  exercise  of  benevolence.  It  began  in 
malevolence,  or  a  want  of  good-will  to  man,  cherished  by 


180  CIVIL  DISABILITIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

ambition  and  lust ;  and  the  whole  system  is  at  war,  in  sys- 
tematic organization,  against  both  private  and  public  be- 
nevolence. Besides,  the  members  which  it  furnishes  for 
society,  according  to  the  excuse  of  the  slaveholders,  are 
"stupid,  ignorant,  and  vicious  persons,"  who  are  just  pre- 
pared to  "disturb  the  peace  and  permanency  of  the  com- 
munity." Nothing  good  in  itself,  or  tending  to  good,  will 
ever  restrain  the  full  exercise  of  benevolence;  nor  will  it 
make  men  stupid,  ignorant,  vicious,  nor  disturb  the  peace 
of  society.  And  as  slavery,  in  its  restraints  on  emancipa- 
tion, seems  compelled  to  pursue  such  evil  measures,  the 
whole  system  should  be  abandoned  by  a  general  emancipa- 
tion, in  the  best,  the  safest,  and  shortest  way  possible  to 
accomplish  the  object. 

The  long  list  of  wrongs  inflicted  by  slavery,  under  the 
items  comprised  in  this  single  chapter,  stamps  it  with  a 
degree  of  sinfulness  which,  of  itself,  is  sufficient  to  condemn 
it  in  the  sight  of  all  good  men.  And,  indeed,  the  wisest 
and  best  of  men  have  deliberately  decided,  that  the  wrongs 
included  under  this  list  alone  attach  to  slavery  the  character 
of  the  highest  felony,  which,  according  to  the  principles  of 
justice,  would  condemn  the  felons  as  guilty  of  high  crimi- 
nal character,  and  worthy  of  suitable  punishment. 


PART  III. 

INJURIES  INFLICTED  BY  AMERICAN  SLAVERY, 


CHAPTER   I. 

EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

IN  the  preceding  chapters,  except  the  first,  we  took  a 
survey  of  the  rights  of  which  slavery  deprives  men.  We 
will  now^consideritsjgrongs;  for  slavery  is  a  system^of  in- 
juries  which  inflictswrongs  on  innocent  persons. 

The  primary  objects  of  just  laws  are  the  establishment 
of  rights  and  the  prohibition  of  wrongs.  Injuries  or  wrongs, 
for  the  most  part,  convey  to  us  an  idea  merely  negative,  or 
being  nothing  else  than  a  privation  of  right.  The  contem- 
plation of  what  is  just,  or  right,  is  necessarily  prior  to  what 
may  be  termed  injuria,  injuries  or  wrongs;  and  the  definition 
of  fas,  right,  precedes  that  of  nefas,  wrong.  Wrongs,  accord- 
ing to  Blackstone,  book  iii,  2,  are  divisible  into  two  sorts  or 
species — private  wrongs  and  public  wrongs.  Private  wrongs 
are  an  infringement  or  privation  of  the  private  or  civil  rights 
belonging  to  individuals,  considered  as  individuals,  and  are 
mostly  termed  civil  injuries.  Public  wrongs  are  a  breach 
and  violation  of  public  rights  and  duties,  which  affect  the 
whole  community,  and  are  distinguished  by  the  harsher 
names  of  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 

Wrongs,  or  injuries,  whether  private  or  public — whether 
inflicted  by  individuals  or  communities — by  laws  or  indi- 
vidual interference — are  contrarj-lo  the  word  of  God,  and 
expressly  forbidden  in  holy  Scripture  in  the  plainest  manner, 
and  under  the  most  awful  sanctions.  Nothing  is  plainer 
than  the  following:  "Thou  shalt  not  kill;"  "Thou  shalt 
not  steal;"  "  Though  shal/ not  bear  false  witness  ;"  "Thou 
shalt  not  covet."  Oppression,  injury,  and  wrong,  are  as 
expressly  forbidden  as  any  thing  else  in  Scripture.  And  the 
wrongs  inflicted  on  slaves  by  the  slave  laws,  by  the  judicial 
decisions  supporting  and  explaining  these  laws,  by  the 
general  practice  under  the  laws,  and  the  no  less  powerful 

183 


1 84        EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

customs  growing  out  of  the  decisions  and  enactments,  are 
clearly  forbidden  in  the  word  of  God,  and  point  out  the 
sinfulness  of  slavery  as  clearly  as  that  theft,  murder,  perjury, 
and  covetousness,  are  sinful  and  wrong. 

It  will  now  be  our  task  to  specify  some  of  the  leading 
wrongs  or  injuries  of  slavery,  which  demonstrate  its  sinful- 
ness.  This  will  appear  from  the  penalties  and  wrongs 
inflicted  on  the  slaves  by  the  laws  in  the  civil  courts.  The 
principal  of  these  will  be  comprehended  under  the  following 
heads : 

1.  The  slave  is  subjected  to  an  extensive  system  of  cruel 
enactments. 

Parts  of  this  system  apply  to  the  slave  alone;  and  foi 
every  breach  of  law  a  severe  punishment  is  demanded, 
And  punishments  of  much  greater  severity  are  inflicted  on 
(In  Im  "i  111  in  m » ii  i  l.lu1  W]I|(ITII  fin  HKI  irnffrnrifri  for  which 
whites  and  slaves  are  amenable^ Besides,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  the  penaT  lawslb  which  slaves  alone  are  subject, 
relate,  not  to  violation  of  the  moral  or  divine  law,  but  to 
mere  human  enactments  or  requirements,  in  themselves  of 
no  moral  import. 

In  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  if  a  slave  be  found  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  town  in  which  he  lives,  or  off  the 
plantation  where  he  is  usually  employed,  without  the  com- 
pany of  a  white  person,  or  a  written  permission  from  his 
master  or  employer,  any  person  may  apprehend  and  punish 
him,  "with  whipping  on  the  bare  back,  not  exceeding 
twenty  lashes."  In  Mississippi  there  is  a  similar  punish- 
ment by  the  direction  of  a  justice;  and  in  Virginia,  Ken- 
tucky, and  Missouri,  at  the  discretion  of  the  justice,  both 
as  to  the  imposition  of  the  punishment  and  the  number  of 
stripes.  (Stroud,  p.  100.) 

In  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  if  a  slave  be  out  of  the 
house,  etc.,  or  off  the  plantation,  etc.,  of  his  master,  without 


EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE.         185 

some  white  person  in  company,  and  shall  refuse  to  submit 
to  an  examination  of  any  white  person,  such  white  person  may 
apprehend  and  moderately  correct  him,  and  if  he  resist 
or  strike  such  white  person,  he  may  be  lawfully  killed. 
(Stroud,  p.  101.) 

In  Virginia,  Mississippi,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  Maryland, 
if  a  slave  shall  presume  to  come  upon  the  plantation  of  any 
person,  without  leave  in  writing  from  his  master,  employer, 
etc.,  not  being  sent  on  lawful  business,  the  owner  of  the 
plantation  may  inflict  ten  lashes  for  every  such  offense. 
(Stroud,  p.  101.) 

In  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  any  white  person,  who 
shall  see  more  than  seven  men-slaves,  without  some  white 
person  with  them,  traveling  or  assembled  together,  in  any 
high  road,  may  apprehend  such  slaves,  and  inflict  a  whipping 
on  each  of  them,  not  exceeding  twenty  lashes  apiece. 
(Stroud,  p.  101.) 

In  South  Carolina,  if  a  slave  or  Indian  shall  take  away  or 
let  loose,  (in  North  Carolina  or  Tennessee,  take  away,)  any 
boat  or  canoe  from  a  landing  or  other  place  where  the 
owner  may  have  made  the  same  fast,  for  the  first  offense 
he  shall  receive  thirty-nine  lashes  on  the  bare  back,  and  for 
the  second  offense  shall  forfeit,  and  have  cut  off  from  his 
head,  one  ear.  (Stroud,  p.  102.) 

In  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  for  keeping  or  carrying  a  gun, 
or  powder,  or  shot,  or  a  club,  or  other  weapon  whatsoever, 
offensive  or  defensive,  a  slave  incurs  for  each  offense  thirty- 
nine  lashes,  by  order  of  a  justice  of  the  peace.  In  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee,  twenty  lashes,  by  the  nearest  con- 
stable, without  a  conviction  by  the  justice. 

In  Kentucky,  a  slave,  for  having  any  article  for  sale,  with- 
out a  ticket  of  permission  from  his  master,  particularly  spec- 
ifying the  same  and  authorizing  its  sale,  receives  ten  lashes, 
by  order  of  the  captain  of  the  patrollers.  If  the  slave  be 
16* 


186         EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

taken  before  a  magistrate,  thirty-nine  lashes  may  be  ordered. 
It  is  similar  in  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi. 
(Stroud,  p.  102.) 

In  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  if  a  slave  be  in  an  unlawful 
assembly,  the  captain  of  the  patrollers  may  inflict  ten  lashes 
on  him.  In  Kentucky,  if  the  slave  be  taken  before  a  magis- 
trate he  may  direct  thirty-nine  lashes.  The  augmentation 
of  crimes,  under  the  name  of  unlawful  assemblies,  is  a  fa- 
vorite measure  of  all  despotic  governments  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  liberal  principles.  Many  of  the  unlawful  assemblies 
in  the  slaveholding  states  concern  meetings  of  slaves  or 
colored  people  for  mental  improvement  of  any  kind,  as  relig- 
ious meetings.  Others  of  them  concern  any  meetings  in 
which  slaves  would  meet  in  view  of  taking  any  step  what- 
ever to  obtain  freedom  or  the  melioration  of  their  condition, 
whether  by  petition,  remonstrance,  or  any  other  thing. 
(Stroud,  p.  102.) 

In  North  Carolina,  for  traveling  by  himself  from  his  mas- 
ter's land  to  any  other  place,  unless  by  the  most  usual  and 
accustomed  road,  the  owner  of  the  land  on  which  such 
slave  may  be  found  is  authorized  to  inflict  forty  lashes  on 
him ;  for  traveling  in  the  night  without  a  pass,  forty  lashes ; 
or  being  found  in  another  person's  negro  quarters  or  kitchen 
forty  lashes;  and  every  negro  in  whose  company  such 
vagrant  slave  may  be  found,  incurs  also  twenty  lashes. 
(Stroud,  p.  103.) 

In  North  Carolina,  any  person  may  lawfully  kill  a  slave 
who  has  been  outlawed  for  running  away  and  lurking  in 
swamps.  (Stroud,  p.  103.) 

For  hunting  with  dogs,  in  the  woods  even  of  his  master, 
the  slave  is  subjected  to  a  whipping  of  thirty  lashes,  in  North 
Carolina. 

Such  was  once  the  law  in  Virginia.  "In  1705  two  jus- 
tices of  the  peace  were  authorized,  by  proclamation,  to  out- 
law runaways,  who  might  thereafter  be  killed  and  destroyed 


EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE.         187 

by  any  person  whatever,  by  such  ways  and  means  as  he 
might  think  fit,  without  accusation  or  impeachment  of  any 
crime  for  so  doing."  Speaking  of  this  and  similar  laws, 
Judge  Tucker,  of  Virginia,  says:  "Such  are  the  cruelties 
to  which  a  state  of  slavery  gives  birth ;  such  the  horrors  to 
which  the  human  mind  is  capable  of  being  reconciled  by  its 
adoption."  Again:  he  says,  "In  1772  some  restraints  were 
laid  upon  the  practice  of  outlawing  slaves,  requiring  that  it 
should  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  justices,  that  the 
slaves  were  outlying  and  doing  mischief.  These  loose  ex- 
pressions of  the  act  left  too  much  in  the  discretion  of  men 
not  much  addicted  to  weighing  their  import.  In  1792  every 
thing  relative  to  the  outlawry  of  slaves  was  expunged  from 
our  code,  and,  I  trust,  will  never  again  find  a  place  in  it." 
(Appendix  to  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  second  part,  pp. 
56,  57;  Stroud,  p.  103.) 

In  South  Carolina,  a  slave  endeavoring  to  entice  another 
slave  to  run  away,  if  provisions,  arms,  horse,  etc.,  be  fur- 
nished for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  runaway,  shall  be  pun- 
ished with  death.  And  a  slave  who  shall  aid  and  abet  the 
slave  who  endeavors  to  aid  another  slave  to  run  away, 
shall  also,  suffer  death.  (Stroud,  p.  103.) 

If  a  slave  harbor,  conceal,  or  entertain  a  runaway  slave, 
in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  he  is  subjected  to  corporeal 
punishment,  to  any  extent  not  affecting  life  or  limb.  In 
Maryland  thirty-nine  stripes  is  the  penalty  for  harboring  one 
hour.  (Stroud,  p.  104.) 

In  Louisiana,  a  slave,  for  being  on  horseback  without  the 
written  permission  of  his  master,  incurs  twenty  lashes.  In 
Mississippi,  for  keeping  a  dog,  the  like  punishment.  In 
South  Carolina,  for  killing  a  deer,  though  by  the  command 
of  his  master,  overseer,  etc.,  unless  such  command  can  be 
proved  by  ticket  in  writing,  t\venty  lashes.  In  Maryland, 
"for  being  guilty  of  rambling,  riding,  or  going  abroad  in 
the  night,  or  riding  horses  in  the  day-time  without  leave,  a 


188        EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

slave  may  be  whipped,  cropped,  or  branded  on  the  cheek 
•with  the  letter  R,  or  otherwise  punished,  not  extending  to 
life,  or  so  as  to  render  him  unfit  for  labor."  (Stroud,  p.  105.) 

In  Mississippi,  as  late  as  1824,  perhaps  the  most  cruel 
law  that  ever  existed  was  enacted.  The  jailer,  when  a 
slave  is  committed  to  him,  is  required  to  interrogate  the 
slave  as  to  who  his  master  is,  then  write  to  the  master,  and 
if  the  statement  of  the  slave  be  incorrect,  he  is  "to  give 
the  slave  twenty-five  lashes  well  laid  on;"  and  then  proceed 
to  a  new  interrogation,  and  a  new  whipping,  and  repeat 
them  for  six  months  if  the  slave  have  given  wrong  informa- 
tion. And  the  jailer  is  irresponsible  for  the  manner  in 
which  he  performs  this  duty.  (Stroud,  pp.  105,  106.) 

2.  The  penal  code  of  the  slaveholding  states  inflicts  pun- 
ishments of  much  greater  severity  upon  slaves  than  upon 
white  persons  convicted  of  similar  offenses. 

In  Virginia,  murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  arson,  are 
crimes  punishable  with  death,  whether  the  offender  be  white 
or  black,  bond  or  free.  But  there  are  at  least  seventy-one 
crimes  for  which  slaves  are  capitally  punished,  though 
in  none  of  these  are  whites  punished  in  a  manner  more 
severely  than  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary.  (Stroud, 
pp.  107-110.) 

In  Mississippi,  where  the  laws  in  regard  to  slaves  are 
much  less  severe  than  in  Virginia,  there  are  twelve  crimes 
for  which  death  is  the  punishment  for  all.  But  there  are 
at  least  thirty-eight  crimes  for  which  slaves  are  punished 
with  death,  but  for  which  white  persons  are  punished  only 
with  imprisonment,  fine,  or  the  like. 

In  Kentucky,  whites  forfeit  life  for  four  crimes  only; 
while  there  are  eleven  crimes  for  which  slaves  are  capitally 
punished.  All  other  offenses,  when  perpetrated  by  slaves, 
are  punishable  with  whipping  only,  not  exceeding  thirty- 
nine  lashes,  except  for  advising  the  murder  of  any  one; 
and  for  this  offense  one  hundred  may  be  given. 


EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE.         189 

In  South  Carolina,  white  persons  suffer  death  for  twenty- 
seven  offenses ;  slaves  for  thirty-six  offenses. 

In  Georgia,  whites  are  punished  capitally  for  three  crimes 
only;  slaves  for  at  least  nine.  All  other  offenses,  com- 
mitted by  slaves,  may  be  punished  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court  before  whom  the  slave  may  be  tried,  not  extending  to 
life  or  limb.  (Stroud,  pp.  110-117.) 

Slaves,  offending  against  the  laws,  are  chiefly  subjected 
to  two  species  of  punishment — whipping  and  death.  Crop- 
ping and  the  pillory  are  seldom  directed,  unless  ha  con- 
junction with  whipping.  In  some  states  transportation  is 
authorized,  upon  certain  conditions,  as  a  commutation  for 
death.  To  secure  the  person  of  a  slave  previous  to  trial, 
imprisonment  is  resorted  to.  But  as  a  punishment  after 
conviction,  except  in  Louisiana,  it  is  unknown.  The  exclu- 
sion of  imprisonment,  or  penitentiary,  as  a  mode  of  punish- 
ment for  slaves,  has  led  to  the  multiplication  of  capital 
offenses.  As  dismemberment  would  diminish  the  value  of 
slaves,  it  has  been  but  little  resorted  to.  Corporeal  pun- 
ishment, not  extending  to  life  or  limb— which  is  another 
name  for  excessive  whipping — though  sanctioned  in  some 
cases,  is  liable  to  the  same  objection  as  dismemberment. 
"In  general,  therefore,  death  has  been  resorted  to,"  says 
Stroud,  "as  the  only  punishment,  according  to  the  senti- 
ments of  slaveholders,  adapted  to  a  state  of  slavery,  for  all 
offenses  except  those  of  a  brutal  nature."  (Stroud,  pp. 
117-119.) 

3.  Slaves  are  prosecuted  and  tried  upon  criminal  accusa- 
tions, in  a  manner  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  humanity. 

Trial  by  jury  is  the  palladium  of  civil  liberty.  It  was 
imported  from  England  by  the  American  colonies,  and 
became  an  integral  part  of  their  laws.  But,  as  African 
slavery  originated  in  the  foulest  iniquity,  and  was  continued 
in  the  same  temper,  and  by  means  similar  to  its  source, 
trial  by  jury  in  general  was  not  allowed  to  the  slaves.  It 


190         EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

is  true  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  those 
of  the  states  secure  to  the  citizen,  impeached  of  crime,  the 
benefit  of  trial  by  jury ;  but  as  usage  had  left  the  slave  out 
of  the  range  of  this  provision,  the  like  exclusion  continues 
to  this  day  in  most  of  the  states.  Yet  there  is  considerable 
of  diversity  on  this  subject  in  the  different  states. 

In  Kentucky,  a  slave  charged  with  an  offense  punishable 
with  death,  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  both  of  the  grand  and 
petit  juries.  He  is  to  be  "tried  and  prosecuted  in  the 
circuit  courts  only,  and  in  the  same  manner,  and  under  the 
same  forms  of  trial,  as  are  by  law  prescribed  in  the  cases 
of  free  persons." 

In  Georgia,  on  capital  charges,  there  is  no  provision  for 
a  grand  jury;  yet  a  trial  by  a  petit  jury  is  guaranteed. 
The  law  of  Mississippi  is  similar  to  that  of  Georgia.  In 
Alabama  it  is  similar.  In  Maryland,  when  the  life  of  a 
slave  is  pending,  trial  by  jury  is  granted.  But  in  the  minor 
offenses,  the  summary  mode  of  whipping  is  resorted  to 
without  such  formalities  as  juries.  (Stroud,  pp.  119—123.) 

Bjit_JrjaL-hy-|ury_ is  denied  to-the-slave,  even  in  criminal 
accusations  which  may  affect  his  life,  in  the  states  of  South 
CaroImaT,  "Virginia,  and  Louisiana.  The  substitute  of  trial 
by-jnry~Ts  called  "lihe  justices  and  freeholders'  court."  In 
South  Carolina  this  court  is  composed  of  two  justices,  and 
three,  four,  or  five  freeholders.  In  Louisiana  a  judge  of 
the  court  may  act  in  the  place  of  the  two  justices.  In 
Virginia  the  court  is  five  justices,  with  the  aid  of  counsel, 
and  the  justices  must  decide  unanimously. 

Besides,  in  the  trial  of  a  slave,  the  testimony  of  a  slave, 
without  oath  or  solemn  affirmation,  is  deemed  sufficient. 

Such  is  the  summary  manner  in  which  slaves  are  punished 
for  capital  offenses.  (Stroud,  pp.  123-126.) 

The  most  general  punishment  for  slaves  is  "corporeal 
punishment,  not  extending  to  life  or  limb,"  as  the  expression 
is  generally  in  the  acts  of  legislatures.  Cutting  off  the 


EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE.         191 

ears,  and  the  pillory,  are  in  force  in  Georgia,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  and  Delaware.  But  the  punishment  of 
universal  prevalence  is  WHIPPING.  The  infliction  of  this 
punishment  to  the  extent  of  "twenty  lashes  on  the  bare 
back,  well  laid  on,"  in  very  many  cases,  needs  not  the  in- 
tervention of  any  magistrate.  Any  white  person,  of  any 
description,  in  many  cases,  may  do  this.  And  should  even 
death  ensue  by  accident,  while  the  slave  is  receiving  mod- 
erate correction,  the  Constitution  of  Georgia  and  the  laws 
of  North  Carolina  denominate  the  offense  justifiable  homi- 
cide. In  offenses  requiring  thirty-nine  or  forty  lashes,  the 
case  is  mostly  brought  before  a  magistrate. 

4.  As  the  slave  can  not  read,  he  can  not  know  what  the 
law  means,  or  whether  there  be  such  laws  as  condemn  him, 
till  the  penalties  of  the  broken  law  fall  upon  him.  He  can 
not  read — he  can  not  learn  to  read.  To  exact  obedience  to 
a  law  not  promulgated,  or  which  can  not  be  known  if  pro- 
mulgated, is  most  unjust  and  cruel.  The  laws  of  the  south 
have  been  formed,  and  now  exist,  under  the  charge  of  this 
cruelty.  The  hardened  convict  in  the  penitentiary  has  the 
laws  read  to  him  on  entrance  into  its  walls.  But  the  guilt- 
less slave  is  subjected  to  an  extensive  system  of  cruel  enact- 
ments, of  no  part  of  which,  probably,  has  he  ever  heard. 

"In  1824  a  Virginia  jury  propounded  to  the  judges  of 
the  Court  of  Appeals,  the  highest  court  of  law  in  that 
state,  this  question :  '  Can  a  master  be  indicted  for  beating 
his  slave  cruelly,  inhumanly,  and  beyond  the  bounds  of 
moderation?'  The  Court  said  that  this  was  a  very  'grave' 
and  'delicate'  question,  which  they  should  not  then  decide. 
This  question  has  never  been  decided  judicially  in  any  of 
the  slave  states ;  nor  has  it  been  raised  in  any  except  Vir- 
ginia. But  who  does  not  see  that  not  to  decide  was  deciding 
it?  The  most  solemn  decision  in  favor  of  the  master  could 
have  conferred  no  power,  which  the  withholding  of  a  decis- 
ion did  not  leave  him.  It  left  right  with  might,  where  it 


192        EXCKSSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

has  always  been,  and  gave  a  new  sanction  to  the  unholy 
union  by  refusing  to  disturb  it."  (Child's  Oration.) 

5.  The  master  may,  at  his  discretion,  inflict  any  species 
of  punishment  upon  the  person  of  his  slave. 

This  power  of  the  master,  to  the  extent  here  implied,  is 
not  sanctioned  by  express  law.  On  the  contrary,  as  far  as 
the  laws  are  concerned,  the  life,  at  least,  of  the  slave  is 
safe  from  the  authorized  violence  of  the  master.  Laws  are 
not  wanting ;  but  they  can  not  be  enforced.  The  laws  do 
not  sanction  crime,  but  they  do  not  punish  it.  This  arises 
chiefly  from  the  exclusion  of  the  testimony  of  colored  per- 
sons from  the  trial  of  a  white  person. 

There  was  a  time,  too,  when  the  murder  of  a  slave,  in 
most  of  the  states,  was  followed  by  a  pecuniary  fine  only. 
Now,  the  willful,  malicious,  and  deliberate  murder  of  a 
slave,  by  a  white  person,  is  declared  to  be  punishable  with 
death  in  every  state.  (Stroud,  pp.  36,  37.) 

The  law  of  North  Carolina,  of  1798,  runs  thus :  "  Whereas, 
by  another  act  of  Assembly,  passed  in  the  year  1774,  the 
killing  of  a  slave,  however  wanton,  cruel,  and  deliberate,  is 
only  punishable,  in  the  first  instance,  by  imprisonment,  and 
paying  the  value  thereof  to  the  owner,  which  distinction  of 
criminality,  between  the  murder  of  a  white  person  and  one 
who  is  equally  a  human  creature,  but  merely  of  a  different 
complexion,  is  disgraceful  to  humanity,  and  degrading,  in 
the  highest  degree,  to  the  laws  and  principles  of  a  free, 
Christian,  and  enlightened  country,  Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  that 
if  any  person  shall  hereafter  be  guilty  of  willfully  and  ma- 
liciously killing  a  slave,  such  offender  shall,  upon  the  first 
conviction  thereof,  be  adjudged  guilty  of  murder,  and  shall 
suffer  the  same  punishment  as  if  he  had  killed  a  free  man ; 
provided,  always,  this  act  shall  not  extend  to  the  person 
killing  a  slave  outlawed  by  virtue  of  any  act  of  Assembly  of 
this  state,  or  to  any  slave  in  the  act  of  resistance  to  his  law- 
ful owner  or  master,  or  to  any  slave  dying  under  moderate 


EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE.  193 

correction."  The  law  of  Tennessee  has  a  like  proviso.  The 
law  of  Georgia  is  similar,  with  a  similar  proviso,  in  these 
words :  "  Except  in  case  of  insurrection  of  such  slave,  and 
unless  such  death  should  happen  by  accident  in  giving  such 
slave  moderate  correction." 

The  impunity  granted  to  the  murderer  of  the  outlawed 
slave  is  certainly  inconsistent  with  the  declaration  of  North 
Carolina,  that  there  is  no  difference  between  the  murder  of 
a  white  and  colored  person;  especially  as  a  declaration 
of  outlawry  is  authorized  when  a  slave  runs  away  from  his 
master,  conceals  in  some  obscure  retreat,  and  to  sustain  life 
procures  provisions  as  best  he  can. 

Furthermore,  to  call  the  "correction"  of  a  slave  which 
causes  death  moderate  is  absurd ;  for  how  could  that  be 
moderate  which  produces  death  ? 

Finally :  this  moderate  correction  of  a  slave  robs  him  of 
the  protection  of  the  act,  when  the  murderer  is  OH  his  trial. 
On  trials  for  capital  offenses,  the  compassion  of  a  jury  is 
ready  to  seize  on  any  plausible  plea  to  free  themselves 
from  the  painful  duty  of  convicting  a  fellow-creature. 
Strong  evidence  will  not  be  required  to  induce  the  belief 
that  the  murderer's  design  was  correction — that  the  measure 
was  moderate,  and,  of  course,  the  death  was  accidental. 

In  South  Carolina,  the  Avillful  murder  of  a  slave  is  pun- 
ished by  death,  if  it  can  be  proved  by  white  persons.  But 
"if  any  person  shall,  on  a  sudden  heat  or  passion,  or  by 
undue  correction,  kill  his  own  slave,  or  the  slave  of  any 
other  person,"  he  shall  be  fined  in  the  sum  of  five  hundred 
dollars.  Where  the  life  of  a  slave  is  so  feebly  protected, 
his  limbs  can  not  be  secure,  as  the  following  law  of  South 
Carolina,  in  1740,  will  show,  and  which  is  now  in  force,  as 
far  as  we  can  ascertain :  "  In  case  any  person  shall  willfully 
cut  out  the  tongue,  put  out  the  eye,  castrate,  or  cruelly 
scald,  burn,  or  deprive  any  slave  of  any  limb  or  member, 
or  shall  inflict  any  other  cruel  punishment,  other  than  by 
17 


194        EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

whipping  or  beating  with  a  horsewhip  or  cow  skin,  switch 
or  small  stick,  or  by  putting  irons  on,  or  confining  or  im- 
prisoning such  slave,  every  such  person  shall,  for  every 
such  offense,  forfeit  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  current 
money."  Here  the  direct  legislation  sanctions  the  beating, 
without  limit,  with  a  horsewhip,  cow-skin,  switch,  or  small 
stick,  putting  on  irons,  or  imprisoning  for  life.  Thus  the 
legislature  sanctions  inflictions  at  least  as  bad  as  those  it 
denominates  cruel  punishments.  South  Carolina  has  yet 
much  to  learn  from  the  Christian  code.  Nay,  her  legis- 
lators would  do  well  to  go  to  school  to  Moses,  whose  law 
teaches,  "  If  a  man  smite  the  eye  of  his  servant,  or  the  eye 
of  his  maid,  that  it  perish,  he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his 
eye's  sake.  And  if  he  smite  out  his  man-servant's  tooth,  or 
his  maid-servant's  tooth,  he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his 
tooth's  sake,"  Exodus  xxi,  26,  27. 

Louisiana,  in  her  revised  code,  follows  closely  enough 
the  example  of  South  Carolina,  as  follows:  "The  slave  is 
entirely  subject  to  the  will  of  his  masten,  who  may  correct 
and  chastise  him,  though  not  with  unusfial  rigor,  nor  so  as 
to  maim  or  mutilate  him,  or  to  expose  him  to  the  danger 
of  loss  of  life,  or  to  cause  his  death."  The  import  of 
unusual  rigor  may  be  learned  from  the  fact,  that  the  law 
in  South  Carolina  had  been  in  full  force  in  Louisiana  for 
many  years  before  the  revised  code  was  adopted,  so  that 
the  usage  of  South  Carolina  was  the  common  usage  of 
Louisiana. 

While  the  laws  of  Mississippi  forbid  all  inhumanity  and 
injury  to  slaves  extending  to  life  or  limb,  the  laws  also  de- 
clare, "No  cruel  or  unusual  punishment  shall  be  inflicted 
on  any  slave  within  this  state,"  under  the  penalty  of  a  sum 
not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars.  But  without  the  testi- 
mony of  the  slave,  a  law  of  this  nature  is  nugatory,  in 
general.  Besides,  cruel  or  unusual  mean  precisely  the 
same  thing,  and  will  be  so  construed  by  the  court.  And 


EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE.         195 

what  horrible  cruelties  may  be  inflicted  under  the  name  of 
usual  punishments,  may  be  gathered  from  the  laws  of 
South  Carolina  and  Louisiana, 

The  Constitution  of  Missouri  empowers  the  Legislature 
"to  oblige  the  owners  of  slaves  to  treat  them  with  human- 
ity, and  to  abstain  from  all  injuries  to  them  extending  to 
life  or  limb."  It  is  also  made  the  duty  of  the  Legislature 
"to  pass  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary  for  this  purpose," 
In  the  place  of  protecting  laws,  according  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, there  is  an  act  which  confers  on  the  master  a  power 
which  may  be  perverted  to  the  most  cruel  purposes.  "If 
any  slave  resist  his  or  her  master,  mistress,  overseer,  or 
employer,  or  refuse  to  obey  his  or  her  lawful  commands, 
it  shall  be  lawful  for  such  master,  etc.,  to  commit  such 
slave  to  the  common  gaol  of  the  county,  there  to  remain 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  master,  etc.;  and  the  sheriff  shall 
receive  such  slave,  and  keep  him,  etc.,  in  confinement,  at 
the  expense  of  the  person  committing  him  or  her."  In 
most  cases,  before  such  imprisonments  are  resorted  to,  we 
may  expect  that  great  severity  of  chastisement  had  previ- 
ously been  administered  to  the  unhappy  slave.  (Stroud, 
pp.  37-43.) 

"Upon  a  fair  review  of  what  has  been  written  on  the 
subject  of  this  proposition,  the  result  is  found  to  be,  that  the 
master's  power  to  inflict  corporeal  punishment  to  any  extent, 
short  of  life  and  limb,  is  fully  sanctioned  by  law,  in  all  the 
slaveholding  states — that  the  master,  in  at  least  two  states, 
is  expressly  protected  in  using  the  horsewhip  and  cow-skin 
as  instruments  for  beating  his  slave — that  he  may,  with 
entire  impunity,  in  the  same  states,  load  his  slave  with 
irons,  or  subject  him  to  perpetual  imprisonment  whenever 
he  may  so  choose — that  for  cruelly  scalding,  willfully 
cutting  out  the  tongue,  putting  out  an  eye,  and  for  any 
other  dismemberment,  if  proved,  a  fine  of  one  hundred 
pounds  currency  only  is  incurred  in  South  Carolina — that 


196         EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

though  in  all  the  states  the  willful,  deliberate,  and  mali- 
cious murder  of  the  slave  is  now  directed  to  be  punished 
with  death,  yet,  as  in  the  case  of  a  white  offender,  none 
except  whites  can  give  evidence,  a  conviction  can  seldom,  if 
ever,  take  place."  (Stroud,  p.  43.) 

6.  "All  the  power  of  the  master  over  the  slave  may  be 
exercised,  not  by  himself  only  in  person,  but  by  any  one 
whom  he  may  depute  as  his  agent."  (Stroud,  p.  44.) 

Louisiana  is  the  only  state  which  has  formally  legislated 
on  this  point,  although  usage  in  other  states  is  of  the  same 
authority  with  law.  The  language  of  the  act  of  Louisiana 
is  a  good  definition  of  slavery,  and  is  as  follows :  "  The  con- 
dition of  a  slave  being  merely  a  passive  one,  his  subordina- 
tion to  his  master,  and  to  all  who  represent  him,  is  not  sus- 
ceptible of  any  modification  or  restriction — except  in  what 
can  incite  the  slave  to  the  commission  of  crime — in  such 
manner  that  he  owes  to  his  master  and  to  all  his  family  a 
respect  without  bounds,  and  an  absolute  obedience,  and  he 
is  consequently  to  execute  all  the  orders  which  he  receives 
from  him,  his  said  master,  or  from  them."  (Stroud,  p.  44.) 

Stevens,  in  his  "Slavery  of  the  West  Indies,"  p.  46,  gives 
in  the  following  language  the  picture  of  slavery  in  every 
place  where  it  exists:  "The  slave  is  liable  to  be  coerced  or 
punished  by  the  whip,  and  to  be  tormented  by  every  species 
of  personal  ill  treatment,  subject  only  to  the  exceptions  al- 
ready mentioned — that  is,  the  deprivation  of  life  or  limb — by 
the  attorney,  manager,  overseer,  driver,  and  every  other  per- 
son to  whose  government  or  control  the  owner  may  choose 
to  subject  him,  as  fully  as  by  the  owner  himself.  Nor  is 
any  special  mandate  or  express  general  power  necessary 
jfor  this  purpose;  it  is  enough  that  the  inflictor  of  the 
"violence  is  set  over  the  slave  for  the  moment,  by  the  owner, 
or  by  any  of  his  delegates  or  sub-delegates,  of  whatever 
rank  or  character." 

This  power  of  deputation  is  one  of  the  worst  features  of 


EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE.  197 

slavery,  although  it  is  necessary  to  the  existence  of  slavery. 
It  was  not  permitted  by  the  law  of  villenage.  The  chief 
delegate  of  the  master  is  the  overseer,  thus  described  by 
Wirt,  in  his  life  of  Patrick  Henry:  "Last  and  lowest,  a 
feculum  of  beings  called  overseers — the  most  abject,  de- 
graded, unprincipled  race — always  cap  in  hand  to  the  dons 
who  employed  them,  and  furnishing  materials  for  the  exercise 
of  their  pride,  insolence,  and  spirit  of  domination."  But, 
with  Mr.  Wirt's  leave,  the  driver  may  compete  with  the 
overseer  for  this  distinction ;  or  perhaps  many  slaveholders 
may  excel  either  overseer  or  driver  for  the  distinction  which 
Mr.  Wirt  gives  to  his  overseer. 

7.  We  present  some  practical  theories  of  southern  men 
here,  as  well  as  practical  examples  of  treating  slaves,  which 
will  reveal  the  heart  of  slavery  better  than  any  abstract 
reasoning  on  the  subject.  The  following  is  from  an  essay  by 
a  distinguished  southerner,  who  enters  on  the  consideration 
of  chastisement  with  great  deliberation: 

"  How  ought  slaves  to  be  punished  ?  On  this  subject  we 
may  safely  appeal  to  experience.  It  is  certain  that  no  pun- 
ishment is  equally  efficient  in  every  case.  While  the  occa- 
sional application  of  the  whip  tends  greatly  to  preserve  the 
obedience  of  some,  it  is  not  even  dreaded  by  others.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  slaveholder  is  bound  to  study 
thoroughly  the  character  of  his  people — to  watch  their 
conduct  with  a  sleepless  eye,  in  order  to  discover  the  secret 
spring  of  their  actions.  The  punishments  usually  resorted 
to  are,  1.  Corporeal;  2,  Solitary  confinement  in  stocks,  or 
solitary  confinement  alone;  3.  Deprivation  of  privileges; 
4.  'Additional  labor ;  5.  Transportation.  When  corporeal 
puTristrnierfins~Inflicted  pursuant  to  a  law  of  the  state,  the 
slave  can  receive  but  thirty-nine  stripes ;  it  is  seldom,  indeed, 
that  the  owner  gives  as  many.  This  mode  of  arresting  the 
commission  of  crime  can  not  be  dispensed  with.  In  many 
cases  it  is  the  only  instrument  which  can  confidently  be 
17* 


198         EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE. 

relied  on  to  meliorate  the  character  of  the  refractory  delin- 
quent. If  to  our  army  the  disuse  of  the  lash  has  been 
prejudicial,  to  the  slaveholder  it  would  operate  to  deprive 
him  of  the  main  support  to  his  authority.  For  the  first 
class  of  offenses,  I  consider  imprisonment  in  the  stocks  at 
night,  with  or  without  hard  labor  in  the  day,  as  a  powerful 
auxiliary  in  the  cause  of  good  government.  His  regular 
duty  having  been  performed,  the  slave  anticipates  the 
approach  of  night  with  the  liveliest  emotions.  To  him  it  is 
the  period  when  he  can  freely  indulge  in  the  various  inclina- 
tions of  the  mind.  Then,  unrestrained  and  unwatched,  if  I 
may  be  allowed  the  expression,  he  acts  in  any  manner  which 
his  interest  or  his  pleasure  might  dictate.  Deprive  him  of 
this  great  source  of  enjoyment — take  from  him  these  hours 
usually  passed  with  his  associates,  and  you  readily  accom- 
plish that  which  no  other  known  scheme  has  yet  effected. 
To  the  correctness  of  this  opinion,  many  can  bear  testimony. 
Experience  has  convinced  me,  that  there  is  no  punishment 
to  which  the  slave  looks  with  more  horror  than  that  upon 
which  I  am  commenting,  and  none  which  has  been  attended 
with  happier  results. 

"Among  the  privileges  of  the  slave  may  be  numbered 
that  of  task  work.  When  his  daily  labor  is  finished,  he  is 
at  liberty  to  cultivate  his  crop,  or  otherwise  to  attend  to  his 
own  concerns.  For  some  offenses  the  changing  of  task 
work  into  constant  labor  from  sun  to  sun,  reserving  a  short 
period  only  for  meals,  is  a  wise  and  useful  regulation.  To 
this  punishment,  if  the  crime  be  of  an  aggravated  nature, 
the  withholding  from  the  transgressor  his  usual  portion  of 
tobacco,  meat,  and  other  comforts,  might  be  added.  Another 
very  efficacious  means  of  correcting  bad  conduct,  is  the 
imposition  of  labor  additional  to  the  task  work.  For  theft, 
this  is  a  rational  punishment.  It  is  proper  on  ordinary  prin- 
ciples, that  the  slave  by  his  labor  should  compensate  for  the 
loss,  which,  through  the  knavery,  the  master  has  sustained. 


EXCESSIVE  PENALTIES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SLAVE.         199 

Whenever  it  is  obvious  that  the  character  of  the  criminal  is 
not  likely  to  be  amended  by  any  of  the  means  to  which  I 
have  so  briefly  adverted,  or,  that  frequent  recurrence  to 
rigorous  punishment  is"  unavoidable  to  that  end,  it  is  far 
better  to  expel  him  from  society  than  to  contaminate  it  by 
his  example."  (Whitemarsh  B.  Seabrook,  of  South  Car- 
olina.) 


200  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PRIVATIONS     OF     SLAVES,     IN     REFERENCE    TO     LABOR,     FOOD, 
CLOTHING,  DWELLINGS,  AND  HEALTH. 

THE  slaves,  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  system  of  slavery, 
may  be  deprived  of  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  life 
suitable  to  rational  creatures.  We  will  instance  in  their 
labor,  food,  clothing,  dwellings,  and  health.  This  head  may 
be  termed  privations  of  the  slaves. 

1.  The  master  may  determine  the  kind,  and  degree,  and 
time  of  labor  to  which  the  slave  shall  be  subject. 

In  most  of  the  slaveholding  states  the  law  is  silent  on  this 
point.  The  codes  of  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  Louisiana, 
and  Mississippi,  speak  on  the  subject. 

The  law  of  Georgia,  of  1817,  says:  "Any  owner  of  a 
slave  or  slaves  who  shall  cruelly  beat  such  slave  or  slaves,  by 
unnecessary  or  excessive  whipping,  by  withholding  proper 
food  and  sustenance,  by  requiring  greater  labor  from  such 
slave  or  slaves,  than  he,  she,  or  they  are  able  to  perform,  by 
not  affording  proper  clothing,  whereby  the  health  of  such 
slave  or  slaves  may  be  injured  and  impaired,  every  such 
owner  or  owners  shall,  upon  sufficient  information  being  laid 
before  the  grand  jury,  be  by  said  jury  presented,  whereupon 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  attorney  or  solicitor-general  to 
prosecute  said  owner  or  owners,  who,  on  conviction,  shall  be 
sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  or  be  imprisoned,  or  both,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  court."  (Stroud,  p.  26.)  The  ostensible 
design  of  the  law  is  to  afford  protection  to  the  slave ;  but 
as  the  testimony  of  colored  persons  can  not  be  received 
against  a  white  person,  the  law  is  a  dead  letter  in  most 
cases.  The  "  requiring  greater  labor  than  the  slave  is  able 
to  perform,"  forms  a  charge  of  a  criminal  nature.  Every 
thing  must  therefore  be  strictly  proved,  and  the  law  must 
be  strictly  defined;  and  this  would  require  that  all  the  illegal 


GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVKS.  201 

circumstances  enumerated  in  the  law  should  exist,  and  be 
proved  against  the  master,  to  constitute  the  single  crime  of 
cruelty  to  the  slave.  Besides,  the  cruelty  of  the  owner  only 
is  made  penal ;  while  the  exaction  of  too  much  labor  by  the 
overseer  is  not  provided  against.  Hence,  any  cruelties  by 
the  overseer  must  pass  unpunished. 

In  the  preamble  of  the  law  of  South  Carolina,  of  1740, 
it  is  said,  "Many  owners  of  slaves  and  others  who  have  the 
care,  management,  and  overseeing  of  slaves,  do  confine  them 
so  closely  to  hard  labor,  that  they  have  not  sufficient  time 
for  natural  rest."  The  act  then  fixes  the  hours  of  labor  not 
to  exceed  fifteen  hours,  from  March  to  September,  nor  four- 
teen hours,  from  September  to  March.  The  penalty  is  from 
five  to  twenty  pounds,  current  money. 

In  Mississippi,  the  law  allows  half  an  hour  for  breakfast 
during  the  year,  and  two  hours  for  dinner  in  summer,  and  an 
hour  and  a  half  in  winter ;  but  if  the  meals  of  the  slaves 
are  prepared  for  them,  half  an  hour  may  be  taken  from  the 
dinner  hour. 

The  laws  of  South  Carolina  and  Louisiana,  as  well  as  those 
of  Georgia,  are  incapable  of  being  executed,  and  therefore 
inoperative,  and  must  give  way  to  the  cupidity  of  the  mas- 
ter, whenever  circumstances  excite  the  passion  of  gain. 

The  time  of  labor  in  South  Carolina  is  enormous ;  it  may 
reach  fourteen  or  fifteen  hours  a  day.  In  Jamaica  ten  hours 
was  the  extent  to  which  slaves  could  be  employed  in  work. 
In  the  penitentiaries  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Georgia,  the 
time  of  labor  does  not  exceed  eight  hours,  in  November, 
December,  and  January,  nine  in  February  and  October,  and 
ten  hours  the  rest  of  the  year.  Thus,  ten  hours  make  up 
the  largest  space  out  of  twenty-four  hours  which  can  be 
exacted  from  convicted  felons  whose  punishment  consists  of 
hard  labor.  Yet  the  slave  of  South  Carolina,  under  a  law 
professing  to  extend  humanity  to  him,  may  be  required  to 
toil  for  fifteen  hours  within  the  same  period. 


202  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 

In  the  extreme  south,  where  cotton,  sugar,  and  rice  are 
raised,  and  where  the  plantations  are  large,  and  many  hands 
are  employed  in  field  work,  the  slaves  are  generally  worked 
hard,  or  overwrought.  At  least  during  portions  of  the  year 
they  are  worked  from  dawn  of  day  till  night ;  and  in  making 
sugar  very  often  they  are  employed  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  night.  It  is  calculated  that  slaves  will  wear  out, 
under  these  circumstances,  in  from  five  to  seven  years. 
The  accurate  calculators  about  how  much  profit  may  be 
made  in  the  wear  and  tear  of  human  flesh,  estimate,  that  it 
is  most  economical  to  require  twice  the  amount  of  labor 
during  the  boiling  season  in  making  sugar,  in  order  to 
accomplish  the  labor  with  one  set  of  hands.  By  pursuing 
this  course  they  could  afford  to  sacrifice  a  set  of  hands  once 
in  seven  years ;  and  this  horrible  system  is  practiced  to  a 
considerable  extent.  (See  "American  Slavery  As  It  Is," 
pp.  35-40.) 

Some  testimonies  here  will  present  this  subject  in  its  true 
light.  "  Many  owners  of  slaves,  and  others  who  have  the 
management  of  slaves,  do  confine  them  so  closely  at  hard 
labor  that  they  have  not  sufficient  tune  for  natural  rest." 
(Legislature of  S.  Carolina;  see  2  Brenard's  Digest,  243.) 

"  So  laborious  is  the  task  of  raising,  beating,  and  cleaning 
rice,  that  had  it  been  possible  to  obtain  European  servants 
in  sufficient  numbers,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  must 
have  perished."  (History  of  South  Carolina,  vol.  i,  p.  120.) 

"  Is  it  not  obvious  that  the  way  to  render  their  situation 
more  comfortable,  is  to  allow  them  to  be  taken  where  there 
is  not  the  same  motive  to  force  the  slave  to  incessant  toil 
that  there  is  in  the  country  where  cotton,  sugar,  and  tobacco 
are  raised  for  exportation?  It  is  proposed  to  hem  in  the 
blacks  where  they  are  hard  worked,  that  they  may  be  ren- 
dered unproductive  and  the  race  be  prevented  from  increas- 
ing. The  proposed  measure  would  be  extreme  cruelty  to  the 
blacks.  You  would  doom  them  to  hard  labor"  (Hon. 


GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVEg.  203 

Alexander  Smyth,  Speech  on  Missouri  Question,  January 
28,  1820.) 

"At  the  rolling  of  sugars,  an  interval  of  from  two  to 
three  months,  they  work  both  night  and  day,  abridged  of 
their  sleep.  They  scarce  retire  to  rest  during  the  whole 
period."  (Travels  in  Louisiana,  p.  81.) 

"The  slaves  are  driven  to  the  field  in  the  morning  about 
four  o'clock.  The  general  calculation  is  to  get  them  at  work 
by  daylight.  The  time  for  breakfast  is  between  nine  and 
ten  o'clock.  This  meal  is  sometimes  eaten  'bite  and  work;' 
others  allow  fifteen  minutes;  and  this  is  the  only  rest  the 
slave  has  while  in  the  field.  I  have  never  known  a  case  of 
stopping  an  hour  in  Louisiana;  in  Mississippi  the  rule  is 
milder,  though  entirely  subject  to  the  will  of  the  master. 
On  cotton  plantations,  in  cotton-picking  time — that  is,  from 
October  to  Christmas — each  hand  has  a  certain  quantity  to 
pick,  and  is  flogged  if  his  task  is  not  accomplished ;  their 
task  is  such  as  to  keep  them  all  the  while  busy."  (George 
W.  Westgate,  who  lived  a  number  of  years  in  the  south- 
western states.) 

As  to  the  argument  from  self-interest,  that  it  is  the  interest 
of  the  slaveholders  not  to  overwork  the  slaves,  we  may 
remark  that  this  has  two  applications.  When  breeding 
slaves  becomes,  by  choice  or  circumstances,  the  policy  of 
slaveholders,  then  their  self-interest  leads  them  ordinarily 
to  supply  them  with  sufficient  food  and  clothing,  and  to 
exact  only  moderate  labor.  But  when  the  object  is  merely 
to  calculate  on  the  profit  and  loss  of  outlay  and  income  in 
the  calculations  of  slavery,  then  excessive  labor  and  waste 
of  life  form  the  more  economical  plan.  On  the  sugar  plant- 
ations it  is  necessary  to  employ  about  twice  the  amount  of 
labor  during  the  boiling  season;  hence,  the  labor  at  that 
season  is  often  doubled.  By  pursuing  this  plan  the  planters 
could  afford  to  sacrifice  a  set  of  hands  every  five  or  seven 
years.  And  this  plan  is  frequently  pursued.  When  the 


204  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 

boiling  season  commences,  it  must  be  pushed  without  cessa- 
tion, and  by  doubling  the  work,  half  the  hands  will  do  ;  and 
thus  there  is  a  great  saving  in  having  to  purchase  only  half 
the  number  of  hands,  and  also  to  maintain  this  number. 
Thus  self-interest  leads  to  overworking,  and  even  killing  off, 
by  this  process,  multitudes  of  human  beings. 

By  this  process  of  overworking  in  the  West  Indies,  the 
slaves  were  hurried  prematurely  to  their  graves  in  great 
numbers.  The  same,  though  perhaps  not  to  the  same 
extent,  occurs  in  the  sugar  plantations  of  the  United  States. 
The  sacrifice  of  human  life,  in  the  sugar,  cotton,  and  rice 
regions  in  the  United  States,  has  been  very  great,  and  the 
waste  has  been  supplied  from  the  slave-growing  states  of 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky.  These  have  supplied 
the  victims  to  replenish  the  grave-yards  of  the  rice,  cotton, 
and  sugar  regions  of  the  far  south.  The  self-interest  of 
slave-breeders  leads  them  to  use  the  means  of  increasing 
the  number,  health,  and  white  color  of  the  marketable 
negroes,  from  their  home  stock.  And  the  self-interest  of 
the  raisers  of  cotton,  sugar,  and  rice,  is  to  have  half  the 
number  of  hands,  wear  them  out  in  from  five  to  seven  years, 
and  from  this  economical  process  save  more  than  will  buy 
fresh  hands,  after  even  paying  the  expenses  of  burying  the 
worn-out  slaves. 

It  is  but  proper  to  state,  that  in  the  grain-growing  states 
the  slaves,  in  general,  are  not  overworked.  Perhaps  in 
these  states  their  labor  does  not  exceed  that  of  laborers  in 
other  countries.  The  same  will  apply  to  most  of  the  house 
hands  even  in  the  far  south. 

But  there  seems  to  be  a  terrible  retribution  of  Heaven 
resting  on  the  system  of  slavery  in  reference  to  labor.  The 
slaves  were  introduced  into  America  in  order  to  relieve  their 
masters  from  work,  as  well  as  to  make  them  rich  by  the 
toils  of  the  slave.  All  this  was  forced  labor — labor  without 


OKNERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES.  205 

remuneration.  The  slave  having  no  interest  in  the  labor  of 
his  own  hands,  will  not,  in  general,  work,  except  under  the 
whip.  He  will  work  as  little  as  he  can.  He  becomes  an  eye- 
servant,  Hence,  it  has  come  to  pass,  that  in  all  the  grain- 
growing  states,  where  mostly  only  a  family  or  two  of  blacks 
are  owned  by  a  white  family,  the  slaves  not  being  constantly 
watched,  they  have  contracted  the  slowest  methods  of 
work.  They  do  as  little  as  they  can.  Hence,  they  have, 
by  the  retributions  of  the  injustice  exercised  on  them,  be- 
come the  most  expensive  laborers.  And  slave  labor  is  now 
dearer  than  hired  labor.  Thus,  its  own  injustice  renders  it 
profitless;  and  the  curse  of  God  adds  to  its  unproductive- 
ness. The  very  soil  partakes  of  this  curse.  The  land  wears 
out  under  slave  culture.  The  indolence  of  the  whites  caps 
the  climax  of  penal  sanctions,  so  that  the  land  spews  out 
its  inhabitants,  and  drives  them  to  new  countries,  because 
the  older  countries  can  no  longer  sustain  the  double  curse 
resting  on  it. 

2.  The  master  may  supply  the  slave  with  such  food,  both 
as  to  quantity  and  quality,  as  he  may  think  proper,  or  may 
find  convenient. 

In  North  Carolina,  the  legal  standard  of  food  for  a  slave 
must  not  be  less  than  a  quart  of  corn  per  day. 

In  Louisiana,  the  standard  by  law  is  "  one  barrel  of  Indian 
corn — in  the  ear — or  the  equivalent  thereof  in  rice,  beans, 
or  other  grain,  and  a  pint  of  salt,  every  month." 

In  South  Carolina,  sufficient  food  is  enjoined  by  law. 
What  is  meant  by  sufficient  food,  we  learn  from  Hon.  Robt. 
Turnbull,  a  slaveholder  of  South  Carolina,  who  says,  "The 
subsistence  of  the  slaves  consists,  from  March  till  August, 
ot  corn  ground  into  grists,  or  meal,  made  into  what  is  called 
hominy,  or  baked  into  corn  bread.  The  other  six  months 
they  are  fed  upon  the  sweet  potato.  Meat,  when  given,  is 
only  by  way  of  indulgence  or  favor." 
18 


206  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 

Thomas  S.  Clay,  Esq.,  of  Georgia,  a  slaveholder,  in  his 
address  before  the  Georgia  presbytery  in  1833,  says,  "The 
quantity  allowed  by  custom  is  a  peck  of  corn  a  week." 

The  Maryland  Journal  and  Baltimore  Advertiser,  May 
30,  1788,  says,  "A  single  peck  of  corn  a  week,  or  the  like 
measure  of  rice,  is  the  ordinary  quantity  of  provision  for  a 
hard-working  slave;  to  which  a  small  quantity  of  meat  is 
occasionally,  though  rarely,  added." 

The  slaves,  in  general,  are  allowed  no  meat.  This  ap- 
pears from  the  fact,  that  in  North  Carolina  and  Louisiana, 
the  only  states  which  regulate  the  slave  rations  by  law,  the 
legal  ration  contains  no  meat.  The  general  allowance  on 
plantations  is  corn,  or  meal,  and  salt  merely.  To  this  there 
are,  doubtless,  many  exceptions;  yet,  the  number  of  slave- 
holders who  furnish  meat  for  their  field  hands  is  small, 
compared  with  those  who  do  not.  The  house  slaves  gener- 
ally get  meat  every  day — the  offal  meat  of  their  master's 
tables.  Vegetables  form  generally  no  part  of  the  slave's 
allowance.  The  sole  food  of  the  majority  is  corn,  at  every 
meal,  from  day  to  day,  and  week  to  week.  In  South  Caro- 
lina, Georgia,  and  Florida,  the  sweet  potato  is  substituted 
for  corn  a  part  of  the  year. 

The  quantity  of  food  generally  allowed  to  a  full-grown 
field  hand,  is  a  peck  of  corn  a  week,  or  a  fraction  over  a 
quart  and  a  gill  per  day.  The  legal  ration  of  North  Caro- 
lina is  less — hi  Louisiana  it  is  more.  Frequently  a  small 
quantity  of  meat  is  added;  but  this  is  not  the  general 
practice  with  field  hands.  We  may  add,  in  the  season  of 
pumpkins  and  other  vegetables,  the  slaves  on  small  planta- 
tions are,  to  some  extent,  furnished  with  these  articles. 
Besides,  a  quart  of  southern  corn  weighs  about  five  ounces 
less  than  a  quart  of  northern  corn;  so  that  this  is  another 
item  of  importance  to  show  the  scanty  legal  supply  for  the 
food  of  the  slave. 

The  daily  rations  of  the  United  States  soldiers  is  one 


GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES.  207 

pound  and  a  quarter  of  beef,  one  pound  and  three-six- 
teenths of  bread,  and  at  the  rate  of  eight  quarts  of  beans, 
eight  pounds  of  sugar,  four  pounds  of  coffee,  tw»  quarts 
of  salt,  four  pounds  of  candles,  and  four  pounds  of  soap,  to 
every  hundred  rations.  In  New  Hampshire  state  prison,  one 
and  a  quarter  pounds  of  meal  and  fourteen  ounces  of  beef 
for  breakfast  and  dinner,  form  the  standard,  and  the  supper 
is  without  stint.  A  similar  provision  is  made  in  the  other 
penitentiaries  in  the  United  States  and  elsewhere. 

In  comparing  the  statistics  of  rations,  we  find  the  average 
daily  ration,  throughout  this  country  and  Europe,  exceeds 
the  usual  slave's  allowance  at  least  a  pound  a  day.  Besides, 
about  one-third  the  ration  of  convicts,  soldiers,  and  sailors 
is  meat,  generally  beef;  whereas  the  allowance  of  the  mass 
of  the  slaves  is  corn  only,  or  less  substantial  food. 

We  know  that  the  laws  of  several  states,  as  South  Caro- 
lina, Georgia,  Louisiana,  etc.,  make  it  penal  to  deprive  the 
slave  of  suitable  food  and  clothing.  But,  as  the  slave  is 
entirely  under  the  control  of  his  master,  is  unprovided  with 
a  protector,  and  as  he  can  not  be  a  witness  against  his  mas- 
ter or  make  complaint  against  him,  the  laws  have  little  or 
no  force. 

We  will  here  produce  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
S.  Clay,  of  Georgia,  in  his  "Detail  of  a  plan  for  the  moral 
improvement  of  negroes  on  plantations,  read  before  the 
Georgia  presbytery,"  in  1833,  and  printed  at  the  request 
of  the  presbytery.  In  regard  to  the  supply  of  food,  Mr. 
Clay  says:  "From  various  causes,  this  is  often  not  adequate 
to  the  support  of  a  laboring  man.  The  quantity  allowed  by 
custom  is  a  peck  of  corn  per  week,  and  if  it  be  sound  flint 
corn,  this  is  sufficient  to  sustain  health  and  strength  under 
moderate  labor.  But  there  is  often  a  defect  here ;  the 
quantity  is  then  insufficient;  and  who  should  be  astonished, 
if  the  negro  take  from  the  field  or  corn-house  the  supply 
necessary  for  his  craving  appetite,  and  then  justifies  his  act. 


208  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 

and  denies  that  it  is  stealing  ?  It  is  a  common  statement 
made  by  intelligent  negroes,  that  without  the  aid  of  their 
own  gardens,  poultry-house,  and  corn-fields,  their  allowance 
would  not  hold  out.  Should  the  quality  of  the  corn  be 
poor,  let  them  have  their  food  by  weight,  giving  not  less 
than  fourteen  pounds  per  week  of  corn.  The  allowance 
should,  on  no  occasion,  be  given  on  the  Sabbath;  besides 
being  a  violation  of  God's  law,  it  interferes  with  attendance 
at  church.  It  should  be  given  on  stated  days;  the  same 
day  every  week.  Time  should  be  allowed  the  negroes  for 
receiving  their  provisions,  neither  should  they  be  delayed, 
after  a  hard  day's  work,  till  late  at  night."  (See  Quarterly 
Antislavery  Magazine  for  October,  1835,  p.  98.) 

So  the  food  is  "often  not  adequate  to  the  support  of  a 
laboring  man."  It  is  "often  insufficient,"  in  Georgia,  and 
testimony  to  the  same  amount  can  be  adduced  in  reference 
to  every  slave  state.  Hence,  the  slave  is  taught  and  com- 
pelled to  steal;  and  the  thefts  of  slaves,  so  notorious  in  nil 
ages,  are  chargeable  on  the  system  of  slavery,  and  not  on 
the  slaves  themselves. 

It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  in  the  northern  slave 
states,  as  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  the 
slaves  generally  receive  sufficient  food.  But  this  is  a  result 
arising  from  other  causes  than  any  provision  of  slavery.  It 
is  in  spite  of  slavery.  Principles  and  influences  in  these 
states  are  at  work,  which  are  undermining  the  system  in  spite 
of  its  injustice  and  its  privations.  Indeed,  every- where,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  the  workings  of  conscience,  and  of 
sound  principles,  offer  an  antagonism  to  slavery  which  ulti- 
mately, by  God's  blessing,  will  overthrow  it. 

3.  The  clothing  of  the  slaves  by  day,  and  their  covering 
by  night,  are  inadequate  either  for  comfort  or  decency,  in 
any  or  most  of  the  slaveholding  states. 

In  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  a  sufficiency  of  clothing 
is  enjoined  by  statute.  But  that  sufficiency  is  mostly 


GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES.  209 

determined  by  usage;  and  to  this  we  must  have  recourse, 
in  order  to  ascertain  in  what  this  sufficiency  consists. 

In  Louisiana,  the  law  enjoined  on  the  owner  to  give  the 
slave  "one  linen  shirt  and  pantaloons  for  the  summer,  and 
a  linen  shirt  and  woolen  great-coat  and  pantaloons  for  the 
winter."  (Stroud,  p.  31.) 

Mr.  Turnbull,  of  South  Carolina,  a  slaveholder,  thus  de- 
scribes the  clothing  of  slaves :  "  It  consists  of  a  winter  and 
a  summer  suit;  the  former  a  jacket,  waistcoat,  and  overalls 
of  Welsh  plains,  and  the  latter  of  osnaburg  or  homespun, 
or  other  substitutes.  They  have  shoes,  hats,  and  handker- 
chiefs, and  other  little  articles,  such  as  tobacco,  pipes,  rum, 
etc.  Their  dwellings  consist  of  good  clay  cabins,  with  clay 
chimneys." 

Mr.  Hawley,  a  Baptist  minister,  who  resided  fourteen 
years  in  North  and  South  Carolina,  describes  the  customary 
clothing  of  slaves  in  these  states  as  follows:  "The  rule 
where  slaves  are  hired  out,  is  two  suits  of  clothes  per  year, 
one  pair  of  shoes,  and  one  blanket ;  but  as  it  relates  to  the 
great  body  of  the  slaves,  this  can  not  be  called  a  general 
rule.  On  many  plantations  the  children,  under  ten  or 
twelve  years  old,  go  entirely  naked,  or,  if  clothed  at  all, 
they  have  nothing  more  than  a  shirt.  The  cloth  is  of  the 
coarsest  kind,  far  from  being  durable  or  warm;  and  their 
shoes  frequently  come  to  pieces  in  a  few  weeks.  I  have 
never  known  any  provision  made  or  time  allowed  for  the 
washing  of  clothes.  If  they  wish  to  wash,  as  they  have 
generally  but  one  suit,  they  go,  after  their  day's  toil,  to  some 
stream,  build  a  fire,  pull  off  their  clothes  and  wash  them  in 
the  stream,  and  dry  them  by  the  fire ;  and  in  some  instances 
they  wear  their  clothes  till  they  are  worn  oft",  without  wash- 
ing. I  have  never  known  an  instance  of  a  slaveholder 
furnishing  his  slaves  with  stockings  or  mittens."  (See 
American  Slavery,  p.  95.) 

The  house  servants  generally,  and  the  greater  number  of 
18* 


210  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 

slaves  in  the  grain-growing  states,  have  clothing  furnished 
them  in  amount  and  quality  approaching  to  comfort,  but 
with  little  reference  to  decency.  Yet  some  have  both  com- 
fortable and  decent  clothes.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  field 
hands  and  the  children,  both  male  and  female,  whose  naked- 
ness is  shamelessly  exposed,  at  the  expense  both  of  modesty 
and  decorum;  while  at  the  same  time,  in  the  case  of  the 
field  hands,  much  suffering  is  the  result  of  their  being 
poorly  clad.  Rev.  T.  S.  Clay,  whom  we  have  quoted  in 
reference  to  the  food  of  slaves,  declares  as  follows  in  regard 
to  their  clothing:  "The  winter  clothes  should  be  given  in 
November,  and  those  for  summer  in  April  or  May.  This 
is  often  neglected;  and  consequently  the  improvident — of 
whom  the  number  is  very  great — suffer  much.  And  how- 
ever well  a  negro  may  endure  the  cold  when  at  work,  or 
sitting  by  his  fireside,  the  want  of  warm  clothing  would  be 
a  good  reason  for  not  attending  church." 

We  must  ascribe  the  inadequate  clothing  of  the  slaves, 
whenever  it  exists  at  the  expense  of  comfort  and  decency, 
to  the  system  of  slavery.  Wherever  either  comfort  or  de- 
cency of  clothing  exist,  slavery  has  not  furnished  this. 
The  philanthropy  and  Christian  principles  of  conscientious 
masters  have  furnished  this,  in  contravention  to  the  spirit 
and  the  practice  of  true  slavery ;  or  the  exertions  of  slaves 
themselves,  by  night  work  and  Sabbath  work,  and  the  use 
of  any  hours  of  recreation  allowed  them,  in  spite  of  the  iron 
laws  of  slavery,  have  provided  the  Sunday  dresses,  and  the 
every-day  comforts  of  clothing.  In  the  system  of  slavery 
there  is  no  provision  for  either  the  comforts  or  decencies  of 
life.  Interest  will  generally  lead  the  master  to  provide 
clothing,  so  as  to  preserve  the  health  and  vigor  of  the 
slave  in  most  cases.  Farther  than  this,  slavery  provides 
not.  The  preservation  and  profitable  use  of  property,  is  all 
that  slavery  knows,  acknowledges,  or  provides  for ;  and  this 
is  the  sum  total,  and  no  more,  of  the  aggregate  code  of 
;'- 


GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES.  211 

slavery.  Where  comfort  and  decency  of  clothing  exist, 
the  extra  industry  of  the  slave  himself,  or  the  humanity  of 
the  master,  has  made  the  provision,  "without  the  least  in- 
debtedness to  slavery,  except  a  mere  tolerance,  by  way  of 
winking  at,  in  consequence  of  which  the  public  opinion 
formed  by, a  better  system  than  slavery,  has  prevented  the 
decently  and  comfortably-clothed  slave  to  wear  his  extra 
clothing,  without  being  divested  of  it  by  the  same  unjust 
system  which  robs  him  of  himself,  enslaves  his  children  as 
soon  as  they  are  born,  separates  them  from  his  bosom  when 
they  are  grown  up,  and  banishes  for  ever  from  his  associa- 
tion his  wife  and  family. 

4.  The  dwellings  of  the  slaves  are  such  as  to  prevent 
family  comfort,  and  to  prevent  the  proper  exercise  of  proper 
family  regulations. 

The  negro  quarters,  the  name  given  to  the  wretched  hab- 
itations of  the  slaves,  conveys,  in  general,  the  idea  of  dis- 
comfort, poverty,  and  misery.  Mr.  Turabull  says,  that  in 
South  Carolina  "the  slaves  live  in  clay  cabins."  In  general 
they  are  small  houses,  of  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  square, 
with  earthen  or  puncheon  floors,  seldom  boards ;  mostly 
without  windows,  or  furniture,  and  utterly  destitute  of  com- 
fort or  convenience.  There  is  generally  only  one  apartment 
for  all  purposes. 

The  Rev.  James  O'Kelly,  in  his  Essay  on  Slavery,  in 
1789,  p.  7,  thus  describes  the  dwellings  of  slaves  in  Vir- 
ginia at  that  time:  "The  families  are  miserably  crowded 
together  in  dirty  pens,  without  any  real  family  comfort, 
even  where  the  husband  and  wife  dwell  together  under  one 
master.  Their  conception  and  birth — too  commonly — are 
not  as  private  as  that  of  brutes  in  the  forest !  A  slave  hath 
not  power  to  do  those  duties  incumbent  on  him  toward  his 
family,  nor  the  satisfaction  of  being  with  them  in  sickness 
and  distress." 

In  regard  to  these  dwellings,  Rev.  T.  S.  Clay  says :  "  Too 


212  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 

many  individuals  are  crowded  into  one  house,  and  the 
proper  separation  of  apartments  can  not  be  observed."  He 
then  recommends  "  such  an  arrangement,  by  means  of  par- 
titions, as  to  furnish  separate  apartments  for  the  larger  boys 
and  girls."  Such  arrangements  are  indispensable  to  the 
comforts  and  decencies  of  civilized  life,  and  to  the  purity  of 
Christian  morals.  But  such  accommodations  would  be  too 
expensive  for  the  master,  whose  gains,  by  this  expenditure, 
would  be  lessened.  Besides,  it  would  be  one  of  those  means 
calculated  to  subvert  slavery.  Slaves,  by  such  treatment, 
would  become  refined  and  self-respecting  men  and  women. 
And  such  an  improvement  would  be  a  ruinous  hit  against 
slavery. 

We  know  that  in  some  places  the  accommodations  of 
houses  for  the  slaves  have  been  improved.  But  slavery  has 
not  done  it. 

This  alone  is  a  striking  fact  in  the  degradation  and  misery 
produced  by  slavery.  Rev.  John  Rankin,  a  native  of  Ten- 
nessee, speaks  thus  in  reference  to  his  own  state :  "  When 
they  return  to  their  miserable  huts  at  night,  they  find  not 
there  the  means  of  comfortable  rest,  but  on  the  cold  ground 
they  must  lie,  without  covering,  and  shiver  while  they 
slumber." 

5.  The  provision  for  sick,  infirm,  and  aged  slaves,  is  far 
from  being  either  humane  or  adequate  to  the  objects  to  be 
relieved. 

There  is  an  act  of  Georgia,  of  December  12,  1815,  which 
declares :  "  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  inferior  courts  of  the 
several  counties,  on  receiving  information  on  oath  of  any 
infirm  slave  or  slaves  being  in  a  suffering  situation,  from  the 
neglect  of  the  owner  or  owners  of  such  slave  or  slaves,  to 
make  particular  inquiries  into  the  situation  of  such  slave  or 
slaves,  and  to  render  such  relief  as  they,  in  their  discretion, 
may  think  proper."  The  relief  here  is  confined  to  in/irm 
slaves.  But  the  relief  is  so  far-fetched,  it  can  rarely  be 


GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES.  213 

reached.  1.  Information  must  be  given  on  oath  to  the 
inferior  judges.  2.  This  must  be  the  oath  of  a  white  man, 
who  by  the  act  must  incur  the  enmity  of  a  neighbor  by 
making  such  complaint.  3.  Then  these  inferior  judges  may 
"  render  such  relief  as  they,  in  their  discretion,  may  think 
proper."  4.  If  they  decide  upon  relief,  it  must  be  sued  for 
at  another  court,  for  they  can  not  order  an  execution  on 
their  own  judgment.  Thus,  such  relief  may  come  when  it 
is  too  late  to  benefit  the  poor  slave  to  any  extent ;  or  it  may 
never  come.  This  may  be  considered  as  a  fair  specimen  of 
the  relief  provided  for  suffering  slaves,  by  the  slave  laws. 

The  late  Dr.  Channing,  of  Boston,  who  once  resided  in 
Virginia,  states  as  follows,  in  his  work  on  slavery,  p.  62, 
first  edition:  "I  can  not  forget  my  feelings  on  visiting  a 
hospital  belonging  to  the  plantation  of  a  gentleman  highly 
esteemed  for  his  virtues,  and  whose  manners  and  conver- 
sation expressed  much  benevolence  and  conscientiousness. 
When  I  entered  with  him  the  hospital,  the  first  object  on 
which  my  eye  fell  was  a  young  woman,  very  ill,  probably 
approaching  death.  She  was  stretched  on  the  floor.  Her 
head  rested  on  something  like  a  pillow,  but  her  body  and 
limbs  were  extended  on  the  hard  boards.  The  owner,  I 
doubt  not,  had,  at  least,  as  much  kindness  as  myself;  but 
he  was  so  used  to  see  the  slaves  living  without  common 
comforts,  that  the  idea  of  unkindness,  in  the  present  in- 
stance, did  not  enter  his  mind." 

The  following  is  from  Sarah  M.  Grimke,  of  South  Caro- 
lina: "When  the  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society,  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  of  which  I  was  a  visiting  commissioner, 
first  went  into  operation,  we  were  applied  to  for  the  relief 
of  several  aged  colored  persons.  One  case  I  particularly 
remember,  of  an  aged  woman  who  was  dreadfully  burned 
from  having  fallen  into  the  fire ;  she  was  living  with  some 
free  blacks,  who  had  taken  her  in  out  of  compassion.  On 
inquiry,  we  found  that  nearly  all  the  colored  persons  who 


214  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 

had  solicited  aid,  were  slaves,  who,  being  no  longer  able  to 
work  for  their  owners,  were  thus  inhumanly  cast  out  in  their 
sickness  and  old  age,  and  must  have  perished,  but  for  the 
kindness  of  their  friends." 

The  pecuniary  interests  of  the  slaveholder  will  have  their 
force,  in  reference  to  the  sick  who  are  expected  to  recover. 
And  yet  the  accurate  calculation  of  profit  and  loss  may  act, 
as  a  distinguished  man  is  reported  to  have  done,  who  owned 
about  three  hundred  slaves,  who,  "  after  employing  a  physi- 
cian among  them  for  some  time,  ceased  to  do  so,  alleging 
as  the  reason,  that  it  was  cheaper  to  lose  a  few  negroes 
every  year,  than  to  pay  a  physician." 

Mr.  George  A.  Avery,  elder  of  a  Presbyterian  church, 
New  York,  who  resided  some  years  in  Virginia,  writes  as 
follows : 

"The  manner  of  treating  the  sick  slaves,  and  especially 
in  chronic  cases,  was,  to  my  mind,  peculiarly  revolting.  My 
opportunities  for  observation  in  this  department  were  better 
than  in,  perhaps,  any  other,  as  the  friend  under  whose 
direction  I  commenced  my  medical  studies,  enjoyed  a  high 
reputation  as  a  surgeon.  I  rode  considerably  with  him  in 
practice,  and  assisted  in  the  surgical  operations  and  dress- 
ings from  time  to  time.  In  confirmed  cases  of  disease,  it 
was  common  for  the  master  to  place  the  subject  under  the 
care  of  a  physician  or  surgeon,  at  whose  expense  the  patient 
should  be  kept ;  and  if  death  ensued  to  the  patient,  or  the 
disease  was  not  cured,  no  compensation  was  to  be  made; 
but  if  cured,  a  bonus  of  one,  two,  or  three  hundred  dollars 
was  to  be  given.  No  provision  was  made  against  the  bar- 
barity or  neglect  of  the  physician.  I  have  seen  fifteen  or 
twenty  of  these  helpless  sufferers  crowded  together,  in  the 
true  spirit  of  slaveholding  inhumanity,  like  the  brutes  that 
perish,  and  driven,  from  time  to  time,  like  brutes,  into  a 
common  yard,  where  they  had  to  suffer  any  and  every 
operation  and  experiment  which  interest,  caprice,  or  profes- 


GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES.  215 

sional  curiosity  might  prompt,  unrestrained  by  law,  public 
sentiment,  or  the  claims  of  common  humanity." 

Besides,  in  the  process  of  acclimation,  those  transferred 
from  the  northern  to  the  southern  slave  states,  suffer  much 
by  disease  and  death.  And  in  advertisements  we  find  the 
venders  very  careful  to  state  acclimation  as  an  important 
item  in  the  value  of  slaves.  Some  calculate  that  about 
twenty-five  per  cent,  lose  their  lives  when  brought  from 
Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  the  hill  countries,  into 
the  sugar  plantations  and  the  rice  swamps.  Certain  it  is, 
that  the  loss  of  life,  by  this  change,  falls  little  short  of  the 
mortality  common  to  the  acclimation  of  the  Africans  in 
America,  when  the  slave-trade  was  in  full  operation;  if, 
indeed,  it  is  not  now  as  extensively  carried  on  as  ever  in 
reference  to  the  South  American  countries,  and  smuggling 
into  portions  of  the  United  States. 

6.  The  privations  endured  by  slaves,  in  reference  to  labor, 
food,  clothing,  dwellings,  and  treatment  when  sick,  show 
clearly  the  degrading  and  sinful  character  of  the  system. 
The  master  prescribes  the  time  and  amount  of  labor  which 
the  slave  must  render.  Then  he  fixes  on  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  the  food  which  he  supplies.  The  clothing,  by 
day  and  night,  is  doled  out  with  scanty  stinting  to  the  slave. 
His  habitation,  no  matter  how  uncomfortable,  which  his  mas- 
ter supplies,  must  be  received  with  submission.  It  will  not, 
then,  be  marvelous,  that  the  system  of  disfranchise  which 
treats  the  slave  in  this  manner,  would  neglect  him  when  he 
can  be  no  longer  profitable,  or  when  sickness  invades  him. 
Parents  enjoying  freedom  do  not  consider  themselves  safe, 
in  civilized  society,  when  they  deliver  their  property  to  their 
children,  and  depend  on  them  afterward  for  supplies.  The 
history  of  the  world  shows  what  human  nature  is  on  this 
matter;  namely,  it  can  not  be  trusted.  And  is  the  system 
of  slavery  guiltless  in  this  respect?  No  such  thing.  In 
food,  clothing,  and  habitation,  and  exacting  labor,  it  will  do 


216  GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES. 

wrong.  It  always  has  done  wrong.  It  now  does  wrong. 
It  can  not  do  otherwise  than  wrong.  Its  sin  remaineth,  and 
will  remain.  Its  sin  is  a  part  of  itself  in  this  respect. 

In  this  are  manifested  some  of  the  most  glaring  sins  con- 
demned in  the  Bible.  This  not  only  withholds  wages,  but 
it  withholds  food  itself,  both  in  quantity  and  quality.  It 
strips  the  poor,  and  makes  them  go  naked,  without  due 
garments  by  day  or  covering  by  night.  Therefore,  the  sys- 
tem is  sinful ;  or  if  it  be  sinful  to  make  people  hungry  and 
naked,  by  taking  their  own  hard-earned  food  and  clothing 
from  them,  slavery  is  chargeable  with  sin. 

Dr.  Channing,  p.  163,  well  portrays  slavery  when  he 
says,  in  reference  to  the  facts  which  we  now  mention : 
"Facts  of  this  kind,  which  make  no  noise,  which  escape  or 
mislead  a  casual  observer,  help  to  show  the  character  of 
slavery  more  than  occasional  excesses  of  cruelty,  though 
these  must  be  frequent.  They  show  how  deceptive  are  the 
appearances  of  good  connected  with  it;  and  how  much 
may  be  suffered  under  the  manifestation  of  much  kindness. 
It  is,  in  fact,  next  to  impossible  to  estimate  precisely  the 
evils  of  slavery.  The  slave  writes  no  books,  and  the  slave- 
holder is  too  inured  to  the  system,  and  too  much  interested 
in  it,  to  be  able  to  comprehend  it.  Perhaps  the  laws  of 
the  slave  states  are  the  most  unexceptionable  witnesses 
which  we  can  obtain  from  that  quarter,  and  the  barbarity 
of  these  is  decisive  testimony  against  an  institution  which 
requires  such  means  for  its  support." 

7.  The  privations  of  slaves,  in  reference  to  food,  clothing, 
dwellings,  sickness,  and  labor,  form  one  very  striking  feature 
of  the  moral  character  of  slavery.  The  spirit  and  the 
practice  of  the  system  will  appear  fully  in  considering  these 
items.  Every  thing  saved  in  expenditure,  as  well  as  pro- 
duced by  skill  and  labor,  go  to  make  up  the  profits  or  gain 
of  slaver}7.  Hence  the  food,  in  quantity,  quality,  and  mode 
of  preparation,  is  provided  on  the  cheapest  plan,  in  order  to 


GENERAL  PRIVATIONS  OF  SLAVES.  217 

save  expense.  The  clothing,  too,  in  cheapness,  is  a  matter 
of  importance.  The  dwellings  are  also  most  miserable, 
costing  next  to  nothing,  in  construction,  furniture,  repairs, 
without  the  appurtenances  belonging  to  decency,  comfort,  or 
morals.  And  then  the  labor  is  to  be  as  great  as  possible, 
and  laid  out  on  the  most  profitable  productions. 

Now,  among  the  declarations  of  Scripture,  none  are  more 
pointed  in  denunciation,  than  those  "which  refer  to  the  sin 
of  even  refusing  to  give  clothing  to  the  naked,  food  to  the 
hungry,  attendance  to  the  sick,  and  the  like.  But  slavery 
does  more:  it  takes  from  the  slave  the  products  of  his 
labor  and  toil,  which  would  clothe,  feed,  and  nurse  him, 
and  then  clothes  him  with  rags,  feeds  him  on  offals  and 
husks,  and  neglects  him  in  his  distress.  To  refuse  to  clothe 
and  feed  those  who  have  made  themselves  poor,  even  by 
their  sins  or  want  of  economy,  is  a  crying  sin  before  God. 
But  to  make  persons  poor,  in  taking  the  grain  out  of  their 
granaries,  taking  the  clothes  out  of  their  wardrobe,  and 
then  replacing  them  only  in  part  with  the  refuse  and  the 
vile  surplus  of  our  rich  stores,  becomes  peculiarly  offensive 
to  God.  Such  are  the  sins  of  slavery  ever  since  it  began, 
even  to  this  day.  And  such  it  must  ever  remain,  till  God 
will  visit  it  with  the  plague  of  total  destruction,  because  it 
has  despised  the  poor,  it  has  taken  the  only  garment  of  the 
naked  from  him,  and,  with  harpy  snatch,  has  seized  and 
carried  their  own  food  from  the  table  of  the  hungry,  starving 
poor.  The  vengeance  of  God  will  follow  it  down  to  total 
destruction. 

19 


218  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

GHAPTERIII. 

CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

1.  The  punishments  and  treatment  of  slaves  amount  to 
cruelties  or  inhumanity.  The  truth  of  this  statement  will 
appear  from  the  following  considerations. 

The  law  of  the  slave  states  assails  the  persons  of  the 
slaves  by  depriving  them  of  trial  by  jury.  It  assails  their 
consciences  by  forbidding  them  to  assemble  for  worship, 
unless  their  oppressors  are  present.  It  assails  their  charac- 
ters, by  branding  them  as  liars — by  denying  them  their  oath 
in  law.  The  law  exposes  their  modesty,  by  leaving  their 
masters  to  clothe  or  let  them  go  naked,  as  he  pleases.  The 
law  exposes  their  health,  by  leaving  him  to  feed  or  starve 
them ;  to  work  them,  wet  or  dry,  with  or  without  sleep ;  to 
lodge  them  with  or  without  covering,  as  he  thinks  proper. 
It  robs  them  of  marriage  relations,  parental  authority,  and 
filial  obligations.  In  short,  the  laws  not  only  refuse  to 
protect  the  slaves,  but  they  rob  them  of  their  sacred, 
inalienable  rights. 

The  law  of  slavery  deprives  man  of  his  right  to  himself, 
of  his  right  to  his  body,  his  right  to  improve  his  mind,  to 
worship  God  according  to  conscience,  his  right  to  receive 
and  enjoy  what  he  earns,  his  right  to  live  with  his  wife  and 
children,  his  right  to  better  his  condition,  his  right  to  eat 
when  he  is  hungry,  to  rest  when  he  is  tired,  to  sleep  when 
he  needs  it,  to  cover  his  nakedness  with  clothing.  It  makes 
the  slave  a  prisoner  for  life  on  the  plantation,  except  when 
his  master  pleases  to  let  him  out  with  a  pass,  or  sells  him, 
and  transfers  him  in  irons  to  another  place.  It  authorizes 
human  merchants  to  traverse  the  country,  buying  up  men, 
women,  and  children — chaining  them  in  coffles,  and  driving 
them  forever  from  their  relatives ;  it  sets  them  on  the  auc- 
tion table  to  be  handled,  scrutinized,  knocked  off  to  the 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVEUY.  219 

highest  bidder ;  it  proclaims  they  shall  not  have  their  liberty, 
and  should  their  masters  set  them  free,  the  law  seizes  them 
and  again  reduces  them  to  slavery. 

Besides,  the  slave  laws  have  attached  the  following  penal- 
ties to  the  following  acts  of  slaves:  if  more  than  seven 
slaves  are  found  together  in  any  road,  without  a  white 
person,  twenty  lashes  apiece;  for  visiting  a  plantation  without 
a  written  pass,  ten  lashes;  for  letting  loose  a  boat  from 
where  it  is  made  fast,  thirty-nine  lashes,  for  the  first  offense, 
and  for  the  second  such  slave  "  shall  have  cut  off  from  his 
head  one  ear;"  for  keeping  or  carrying  a  club,  thirty-nine 
lashes;  for  having  any  article  for  sale,  without  a  ticket  from 
his  master,  ten  lashes;  for  traveling  in  any  other  than  the 
most  usual  road,  when  going  alone  to  any  place,  forty  lashes; 
for  being  found  in  another  person's  negro  quarters,  forty 
lashes;  for  hunting  with  dogs,  in  the  woods,  thirty  lashes; 
for  being  on  horseback  without  the  written  permission  of 
his  master,  twenty-five  lashes;  for  riding  or  going  abroad  in 
the  night,  or  riding  horses  in  the  daytime,  without  leave,  a 
slave  may  be  whipped,  cropped,  or  branded  on  the  cheek 
with  the  letter  R,  or  otherwise  punished,  not  extending  to  life, 
or  so  as  not  to  render  him  unfit  for  labor.  Laws  similar  to 
these  exist  throughout  the  slave  code.  Extracts  to  fill  a 
volume  could  be  made  similar  to  the  above. 

In  many  cases  the  white  man  may  kill  the  slave  with 
perfect  impunity,  as  we  have  shown ;  so  that  the  slave  has 
little  or  no  protection  from  the  few  laws  made  for  that  pur- 
pose. For  instance,  if  a  female  raise  her  hand  against  the 
human  brute  who  attempts  to  violate  her  chastity,  she  shall, 
saith  the  law,  suffer  death. 

The  property  of  the  master  is  much  more  sacred  than  the 
person  of  the  slave.  Two  laws  of  Louisiana,  passed  in  1819, 
prove  this.  The  one  attaches  a  penalty,  not  exceeding  one 
thousand  dollars,  and  imprisonment,  not  exceeding  two 
vears,  to  the  crime  of  "  cutting  or  breaking  any  iron  chain  or 


220  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

collar"  which  any  master  may  have  used  to  prevent  the 
running  away  of  the  slave.  The  other  law  inflicts  a  penalty, 
"not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars,"  to  "willfully  cutting 
out  the  tongue,  putting  out  the  eye,  cruelly  burning,  or 
depriving  any  slave  of  any  limb."  These  laws  reveal  the 
heart  of  the  slave  system ;  while  it  shows  the  relative  pro- 
tection afforded  to  the  person  of  the  slave,  compared  to  the 
property  of  the  master.  He  who  cuts  out  the  tongue,  tears 
out  the  eyes,  shoots  off  the  arms,  or  burns  off  the  feet  of  a 
slave,  over  a  slow  fire,  can  not  legally  be  fined  more  than 
five  hundred  dollars.  But  if  he  should,  in  pity,  loose  a 
chain  from  his  galled  neck,  he  may  be  fined  in  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  imprisoned  for  two  years ;  and  this,  too,  not  for 
stealing  the  slave,  or  enticing  or  advising  him  to  leave  his 
master,  but  merely  to  relieve,  in  some  degree,  the  misery  of 
the  slave! 

Take  the  following  illustrations  of  the  indifference  to  the 
torments  of  slaves,  compared  with  zeal  to  compensate  the 
master  if  the  slave  is  lessened  in  value  by  the  injury  in- 
flicted by  another.  The  first  is  a  law  of  South  Carolina, 
which  provides  that  if  a  slave  engaged  in  his  owner's  service 
be  attacked  by  a  person,  "not  having  sufficient  cause  for  so 
doing,"  and  if  the  slave  shall  be  maimed  or  disabled  by  him, 
so  that  the  owner  suffers  loss  from  the  inability  of  the  slave 
to  labor,  the  person  maiming  the  slave  shall  pay  for  his  lost 
time,  and  the  charges  for  the  cure  of  the  slave.  There  the 
maimed  slave,  crippled  or  otherwise  injured,  is  passed  over 
in  silence,  and  the  act  toward  him  is  no  criminal  act;  but  the 
pecuniary  loss  of  the  master  is  provided  for,  with  no  pro- 
vision to  remunerate  the  cruelly-treated  slave.  (See  2  Bre- 
nard's  Digest,  231,  2.) 

A  similar  law  exists  in  Louisiana,  which  contains  an  addi- 
tional provision  for  tlie  benefit  of  the  master.  It  ordains  that 
"if  the  maimed  and  disabled  slave  be  forever  rendered 
unable  to  work,"  the  person  maiming  him  shall  pay  the 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  221 

master  the  appraised  value  of  the  slave  before  the  injury, 
and  shall  also  take  the  slave  and  maintain  him  during  life. 
Thus  the  slave  is  put  into  the  hands  of  his  tormentor ! 
What  else  than  cruel  treatment  can  be  expected  during  life 
for  the  maimed  slave?  The  following  judicial  decision  will 
illustrate  this  point.  It  is  in  the  case  of  Jourdon  vs.  Pat- 
ton,  (5  Martin's  Louisiana  Reports,  p.  615;  Wheeler,  pp. 
249,  250.)  A  slave  of  the  plaintiff  had  been  deprived  of 
his  only  eye,  and  thus  rendered  useless,  on  account  of  which 
the  defendant  is  required  by  the  court  to  pay  the  full  value 
of  the  slave.  The  case,  by  appeal,  went  up  to  the  Supreme 
Court.  Judge  Mathews,  in  his  decision,  said,  that  "when 
the  defendant  had  paid  the  sum  decreed,  the  slave  ought  to 
be  placed  in  his  possession,"  adding,  that  "  the  judgment 
making  full  compensation  to  the  owner  operates  change  of 
property."  He  then  adds:  "The  principle  of  humanity 
which  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  the  mistress  whom  he 
had  long  served,  would  treat  her  miserable  blind  slave  with 
more  kindness  than  the  defendant  to  whom  the  judgment 
ought  to  transfer  him,  CAN  NOT  BE  TAKEN  INTO  CONSIDERA- 
TION, in  deciding  this  case."  The  full  compensation  to  the 
mistress  for  the  loss  of  the  services  of  her  slave  is  worthy 
of  all  consideration;  but  the  condition  of  the  slave  during 
life,  blind  and  helpless,  is  worthy  of  no  consideration! 

Before  we  proceed  further,  we  adduce  a  decision  or  two 
to  show,  that  the  slave  has  little  protection  from  law.  The 
following  is  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  South 
Carolina,  in  the  case  of  the  State  vs.  Cheatwood,  (2  Hill's 
Reports,  p.  459;  see  Wheeler,  p.  243.)  "The  criminal 
offense  of  assault  and  battery  can  not,  at  common  law,  be 
committed  on  the  person  of  t/ie  slave.  For,  notwithstanding 
for  some  purposes  a  slave  is  regarded  in  law  as  a  person, 
yet  generally  he  is  a  mere  chattel  personal,  and  his  right  of 
personal  protection  belongs  to  his  master,  who  can  maintain 
an  action  of  trespass  for  the  battery  of  his  slave.  There 
19* 


222  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

can,  therefore,  be  no  offense  against  the  state  for  a  mere 
beating  of  the  slave,  unaccompanied  by  any  circumstances 
of  cruelty,  as  an  attempt  to  kill  and  murder.  The  peace  of 
the  state  is  not  thereby  broken ;  for  a  slave  is  not  generally 
regarded  as  legally  capable  of  being  within  the  peace  of  the 
state.  He  is  not  a  citizen,  and  is  not  in  that  character  entitled 
to  her  protection." 

In  the  case  of  State  vs.  Mann,  1829,  (Devereux's  North 
Carolina  Reports,  p.  263,)  the  Supreme  Court  of  North 
Carolina  decided  that  a  master  who  shot  at  a  female  slave 
and  wounded  her,  because  she  got  loose  from  him  when 
he  was  flogging  her,  and  started  to  run  from  him,  had 
violated  no  law,  and  could  not  be  indicted.  (See  Wheeler, 
p.  244.) 

Thus  the  slave  laws  give  the  master  a  right  to  flog,  wound, 
and  beat  a  slave  when  he  pleases.  And  it  has  been  decided 
by  the  highest  courts  of  the  slave  states  generally,  that 
assault  and  battery  upon  a  slave  is  not  indictable  as  a 
criminal  offense. 

2.  To  show  that  American  slavery  has  always  had  a 
uniform  character  of  cruelty  inflicted  on  the  slaves,  we  will 
adduce  the  testimony  of  unimpeachable  witnesses  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years.  This  evidence  will  be  of  a  general 
character,  and  principally  from  slaveholders. 

Mr.  Whitfield,  in  1739,  declares  thus,  concerning  slavery 
in  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia :  "  Sure  I  am,  it  is  sinful  to  use  them  as  bad,  nay, 
worse,  than  if  they  were  brutes ;  and  whatever  particular 
exceptions  there  may  be — as  I  would  charitably  hope  there 
are  some — I  fear  the  generality  of  you  who  own  negroes 
are  liable  to  such  a  charge ;  not  to  mention  what  numbers 
have  been  given  up  to  the  inhuman  usage  of  cruel  task- 
masters, who,  by  their  unrelenting  scourges,  have  plowed 
their  backs  and  made  long  furrows,  and  at  length  brought 
them  to  their  grave.  The  blood  of  them,  spilt  for  these 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  223 

many  years,  in  your  respective  provinces,  will  ascend  up  to 
heaven  against  you." 

John  Woolman,  a  Quaker,  in  1757,  says :  "The  correction 
ensuing  on  their  disobedience  to  overseers,  or  slothfulness  in 
business,  is  often  very  severe,  and  sometimes  desperate." 

Mr.  Pinckney,  of  Maryland,  in  the  house  of  delegates,  in 
1789,  calls  slavery  "a  speaking  picture  of  abominable  op- 
pression." 

The  Rev.  James  O'Kelly,  in  his  "Essay  on  Negro 
Slavery,"  published  in  Philadelphia,  in  1789,  and  who  is 
an  unexceptionable  witness,  declares  as  follows:  "In  a 
word,  slavery  is  insufferable  in  its  nature.  A  slave  is  looked 
on  as  the  property  of  the  master,  who  is  his  own  legislator, 
as  touching  the  slave,  to  curse,  abuse,  drive  rigorously, 
sell,  change,  give,  etc.  Yes,  beat  without  restriction; 
mark,  brand,  and  castrate  him ;  and  even  when  life  itself  is 
taken  away,  it  is  but  very  little  regarded.  Perhaps  there 
may  be  a  small  stir  if  one  is  murdered,  but  it  is  nothing  but 
a  sham  inquisition !  His  wife  and  children — if  slaves — are 
all  salable  property,  so  that  the  slave  can  not  say  that  even 
his  life  is  his  own.  They  see  their  wives  and  children  in 
suffering  circumstances,  but  have  no  way  to  relieve  them ! 
They  see  their  bleeding  backs,  but  dare  not  say,  'Why  is 
this  abuse?'  They  are  torn  from  each  other  to  satisfy 
debts,  and  to  be  parted  among  the  favored  legatees.  This 
is  tolerated  by  the  sons  of  liberty,  who  risked  their  lives  to 
deliver  themselves  from  political  bondage."  (Pp.  7,  8.) 
Again,  p.  9,  our  witness  says  :  "  These  poor  outcasts  of  men 
have  no  kind  law  to  protect  them  from  abuse  of  every  kind, 
or  to  allow  them  some  small  pittance  for  a  life  of  hard 
labor.  Do  not  call  a  few  rags  and  coarse  bread,  hire. 
Yea,  life  itself  is  not  protected  as  it  should  be.  A  white 
man's  character  is  regarded  more  than  the  life  of  a  slave ! 
This  is  but  a  very  short  narrative  of  the  miserable  conse- 
quences of  slavery." 


224  CRUELTIES  O.F  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Rice,  in  the  Convention  of  Kentucky,  in  1790,  said: 
"The  master  may,  and  often  does,  inflict  upon  him  all  the 
severity  of  punishment  the  human  body  is  capable  of 
bearing." 

President  Edwards,  the  younger,  in  a  sermon  preached 
in  1791,  before  "The  Connecticut  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of  Freedom,  and  for  the  Relief  of  Persons  unlawfully 
holden  in  Bondage,"  declares  as  follows,  p.  6,  fourth  edi- 
tion: "They  are  constantly  under  the  watchful  eye  of 
overseers  and  negro-drivers,  more  tyrannical  and  cruel 
than  even  their  masters  themselves.  From  these  drivers, 
for  every  imagined,  as  well  as  real  neglect  or  want  of  exer- 
tion, they  receive  the  lash,  the  smack  of  which  is  all  day 
long  in  the  ears  of  those  who  are  on  the  plantation  or  in 
the  vicinity;  and  it  is  used  with  such  dexterity  and  sever- 
ity, as  not  only  to  lacerate  the  skin,  but  to  tear  out  small 
portions  of  the  flesh  at  almost  every  stroke.  This  is  the 
general  treatment  of  the  slaves.  But  many  individuals  suffer 
still  more  severely.  Many  are  knocked  down;  some  have 
their  eyes  beaten  out;  some  have  an  arm  or  a  leg  broken 
or  chopped  off ;  and  many,  for  a  small,  or  for  no  crime  at 
all,  have  been  beaten  to  death,  merely  to  gratify  the  fury 
of  an  enraged  master  or  overseer." 

Major  Stoddard,  who  took  possession  of  Louisiana  in  be- 
half of  the  United  States,  in  1804,  in  his  sketches  of  Lou- 
isiana, p.  332,  says:  "The  feelings  of  humanity  are  out- 
raged— the  most  odious  tyranny  is  exercised  in  a  land  of 
freedom,  and  hunger  and  nakedness  prevail  amidst  plenty. 
Cruel  and  even  unusual  punishments  are  daily  inflicted  on 
these  wretched  creatures,  enfeebled  with  labor,  hunger,  and 
the  lash.  The  scenes  of  misery  and  distress  constantly 
witnessed  along  the  coast  of  the  Delta,  the  wounds  and 
lacerations  occasioned  by  demoralized  masters  and  overseers, 
torture  the  feelings  of  the  passing  stranger,  and  wring  blood 
from  the  heart." 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  225 

The  seventh  report  of  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
1824,  declares:  "Excepting  only  the  horrible  system  of  the 
West  India  Islands,  we  have  never  heard  of  slavery  in 
any  country,  ancient  or  modern,  Pagan,  Mohammedan,  or 
Christian,  so  terrible  in  its  character  as  the  slavery  which 
now  exists  in  these  United  States." 

The  following  is  the  testimony  of  the  Gradual  Emanci- 
pation Society  of  North  Carolina :  "  In  the  eastern  part  of 
the  state  the  slaves  considerably  outnumber  the  free  popu- 
lation. Their  situation  is  there  wretched  beyond  descrip- 
tion. Impoverished  by  the  mismanagement  which  we  have 
already  attempted  to  describe,  the  master,  unable  to  support 
his  own  grandeur  and  maintain  his  slaves,  puts  the  unfor- 
tunate wretches  upon  short  allowances,  scarcely  sufficient 
for  their  sustenance,  so  that  a  great  part  of  them  go  half- 
naked  and  half-starved  much  of  the  time.  Generally 
throughout  the  state,  the  African  is  an  abused,  a  mon- 
strously-outraged creature."  (See  Minutes  of  the  Ameri- 
can Convention,  convened  in  Baltimore,  October  25,  1826; 
see,  also,  Weld's  American  Slavery,  p.  60.) 

The  Rev.  John  Rankin,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  in  1824 
declared :  "Many  poor  slaves  are  stripped  naked,  stretched 
and  tied  across  barrels,  or  large  bags,  and  tortured  with  tlie 
lash  during  hours,  and  even  whole  days,  till  their  flesh  is 
mangled  to  tJie  very  bones.  Others  are  stripped  and  hung 
up  by  the  arms,  their  feet  are  tied  together,  and  the  end  of 
a  heavy  piece  of  timber  is  put  between  their  legs  in  order  to 
stretch  their  bodies,  and  so  prepare  them  for  the  torturing 
lash — and  in  this  situation  they  are  often  whipped  till 
their  bodies  are  covered  with  blood  and  mangled  flesh — and, 
in  order  to  add  the  greatest  keenness  to  their  sufferings, 
their  wounds  are  washed  with  liquid  salt!  And  some  of 
the  miserable  creatures  are  permitted  to  hang  in  that  posi- 
tion till  they  actually  expire;  some  die  under  the  lush, 
others  linger  about  for  a  time,  and  at  length  die  of  their 


226  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

wounds,  and  many  survive,  and  endure  again  similar  tor- 
ture. These  bloody  scenes  are  constantly  exhibiting  in  every 
slave1u)lding  country — thousands  of  whips  are  every  day 
stained  in  African  blood!  Even  the  poor  females  are  not 
permitted  to  escape  these  shocking  cruelties."  (Rankin's 
Letters,  p.  52,  fifth  edition.) 

"The  slave,  to  remain  a  slave,  must  be  made  sensible 
that  there  is  no  appeal  from  his  master ;  that  his  person  is  in 
no  instance  usurped,  but  is  conferred  by  the  laws  of  man, 
at  least,  if  not  by  the  law  of  God.  The  danger  would  be 
great,  indeed,  if  the  tribunals  of  justice  should  be  called 
on  to  graduate  the  punishment  appropriate  to  every  temper 
and  dereliction  of  menial  duty.  No  man  can  anticipate  the 
many  and  aggravated  provocations  of  the  master,  which 
the  slave  would  be  constantly  stimulated,  by  his  own  pas- 
sions or  the  instigation  of  others,  to  give;  or  the  conse- 
quent wrath  of  the  master,  prompting  him  to  bloody  ven- 
geance, upon  the  turbulent  traitor — a  vengeance  generally 
practiced  with  impunity,  by  reason  of  its  privacy."  (Judge 
Ruffin,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina;  see 
Wheeler,  p.  247.) 

"It  must  be  confessed,  that,  although  the  treatment  of 
our  slaves  is,  in  the  general,  as  mild  and  humane  as  it  can 
be,  it  must  always  happen,  that  there  will  be  found 
hundreds  of  individuals,  who,  owing  either  to  the  natural 
ferocity  of  their  dispositions,  or  to  the  effects  of  intemper- 
ance, will  be  guilty  of  cruelty  and  barbarity  toward  their 
slaves,  which  is  almost  intolerable,  and  at  which  humanity 
revolts."  (Speech  of  Mr.  Moore,  of  Virginia,  January  15, 
1832.) 

"Let  any  man  of  spirit  and  feeling,  for  a  moment,  cast 
his  thoughts  over  this  land  of  slavery — think  of  the  naked- 
ness of  some,  the  hungry  yearnings  of  others,  the  flowing 
tears  and  heaving  sighs  of  parting  relations,  the  wailings 
and  woe,  the  bloody  cut  of  the  keen  lash,  and  the  frightful 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  227 

scream  that  rends  the  very  skies — and  all  this  to  gratify 
ambition,  lust,  pride,  avarice,  vanity,  and  other  depraved 
feelings  of  the  human  heart.  .  .  .  THE  WORST  is  NOT 
GENERALLY  KNOWN.  Were  all  the  miseries,  the  horrors  of 
slavery,  to  burst  at  once  into  view,  a  peal  of  sevenfold 
thunder  could  scarce  strike  greater  alarm."  (Address  of 
B.  Swain,  of  North  Carolina,  in  1830.) 

"In  almost  the  last  conversation  I  had  with  you  before 
I  left  Cincinnati,  I  promised  to  give  you  some  account  of 
some  scenes  of  atrocious  cruelty  toward  slaves,  which  I 
witnessed  while  I  lived  at  the  south.  I  almost  regret  hav- 
ing made  the  promise,  for  not  only  are  they  so  atrocious 
that  you  will  with  difficulty  believe  them,  but  I  also  fear 
that  they  will  have  the  effect  of  driving  you  into  that  aboli- 
tionism, upon  the  borders  of  which  you  have  been  so  long 
hesitating.  The  people  of  the  north  are  ignorant  of  the 
horrors  of  slavery — of  the  atrocities  which  it  commits  upon 
the  unprotected  slave 

"  I  do  not  know  that  any  thing  could  be  gained  by  par- 
ticularizing the  scenes  of  horrible  barbarity,  which  fell 
under  my  observation  during  my  short  residence  in  one 
of  the  wealthiest,  most  intelligent,  and  most  moral  parts 
of  Georgia.  Their  number  and  atrocity  are  such,  that  I 
am  confident  they  would  gain  credit  with  none  but  aboli- 
tionists. Every  thing  will  be  conveyed  in  the  remark,  that 
in  a  state  of  society  calculated  to  foster  the  worst  passions  of 
our  nature,  the  slave  derives  no  protection  either  from  law 
or  public  opinion,  and  that  ALL  the  cruelties  which  the 
Russians  are  reported  to  have  acted  toward  the  Poles, 
after  their  late  subjugation,  ARE  SCENES  OF  EVERY-DAY  OC- 
CURRENCE in  the  southern  states.  This  statement,  incredi- 
ble as  it  may  seem,  falls  short,  very  far  short  of  the  truth." 
(Rev.  J.  C.  Finley's  letter  to  Mr.  Mahan.) 

"  Slavery  is  the  parent  of  more  suffering  than  has  flowed 
from  any  one  source  since  the  date  of  its  existence.  Such 


228  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

sufferings  too! — sufferings  inconceivable  and  innumerable — 
unmingled  wretchedness,  from  the  ties  of  nature  rudely 
broken  and  destroyed,  the  acutest  bodily  tortures,  groans, 
tears,  and  blood — lying  forever  in  weariness  and  painful- 
ness,  in  watchings,  in  hunger  and  in  thirst,  in  cold  and 
nakedness. 

"  Brethren  of  the  north,  be  not  deceived.  These  suffer- 
ings still  exist;  and  despite  the  efforts  of  their  cruel  authors 
to  hush  them  down,  and  confine  them  within  the  precincts 
of  their  own  plantations,  they  will,  ever  and  anon,  struggle 
up  and  reach  the  ear  of  humanity."  (Mr.  Thome's  Speech 
at  New  York,  May,  1834.) 

"  This  system  licenses  and  produces  great  cruelty.  Man- 
gling, imprisonment,  starvation,  every  species  of  torture, 
may  be  inflicted  upon  him,  [the  slave,]  and  he  has  no 
redress.  There  are  now  in  our  whole  land  two  millions  of 
human  beings,  exposed,  defenseless,  to  every  insult,  and 
every  injury  short  of  maiming  or  death,  which  their  fellow- 
men  may  choose  to  inflict.  They  suffer  all  that  can  be 
inflicted  by  wanton  caprice,  by  grasping  avarice,  by  brutal 
lust,  by  malignant  spite,  and  by  insane  anger.  Their  hap- 
piness is  the  sport  of  every  whim,  and  the  prey  of  every 
passion  that  may,  occasionally  or  habitually,  infest  the 
master's  bosom.  If  we  could  calculate  the  amount  of 
woe  endured  by  ill-treated  slaves,  it  would  overwhelm  every 
compassionate  heart — it  would  move  even  the  obdurate  to 
sympathy.  There  is  also  a  vast  sum  of  suffering  inflicted 
upon  the  slave  by  humane  masters,  as  a  punishment  for 
that  idleness  and  misconduct  which  slavery  naturally  pro- 
duces. Brutal  stripes,  and  all  the  varied  kinds  of  personal 
indignities,  are  not  the  only  species  of  cruelty  which  slavery 
licenses."  (Synod  of  Kentucky.) 

"Place  yourself  in  imagination,  for  a  moment,  in  their 
condition.  With  heavy  galling  chains,  riveted  upon  your 
person;  half-naked,  half-starved;  your  back  lacerated  with 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  229 

the  'knotted  whip;'  traveling  to  a  region  where  your 
condition  through  time  will  be  second  only  to  the  wretched 
creatures  in  hell.  This  depicting  is  not  visionary.  Would 
to  God  that  it  was !"  (Marysville  Intelligencer,  Tenn.,  Oc- 
tober 4,  1835.) 

3.  We  will  now  present  some  specimens  of  whipping  and 
flogging,  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  practice  con- 
forms to  the  laws  which  authorize  the  practice. 

The  acts  of  assemblies  usually  denominate  the  corrections 
of  the  slave  "  corporeal  punishment,  not  extending  to  life  or 
limb ;"  or,  which  is  the  same,  any  torture  on  the  body  of  a 
slave  which  can  be  practiced  without  producing  death  or 
dismemberment.  The  punishment  of  universal  prevalence 
is  whipping,  which  consists  of  "  lashes  on  the  bare  back, 
well  laid  on."  The  lashes  are  inflicted  with  a  cow-skin, 
cart-whip,  or  any  such  instrument.  A  cloud  of  witnesses 
can  be  adduced  to  prove  that  the  slaves  are  whipped  with 
such  inhuman  severity  as  to  lacerate  and  mangle  the  flesh 
in  a  most  shocking  manner,  leaving  permanent  scars  and 


The  advertisements  describing  the  scars  on  their  bodies, 
made  by  the  whip,  abound  in  all  the  southern  papers.  Out 
of  twenty-five  advertisements,  now  before  us,  taken  from 
the  southern  papers — six  of  them  in  1837,  and  nineteen  in. 
1838 — we  have  specimens  of  the  effect  of  the  whip.  Out 
of  these  twenty-five,  we  select  the  expressions  of  only 
a  few,  that  the  reader  may  have  the  very  words  of  the 
slaveholders  themselves.  "Martha,  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  of  age,  has  numerous  scars  of  the  whip  on  her  back." 
"  Siby,  very  much  scarred  about  the  neck  and  ears  by  whip- 
piny."  "  A  mulatto  boy,  having  large  marks  of  the  whip 
on  his  shoulders  and  other  parts  of  his  body."  "  Tom  is 
much  marked  with  the  whip."  "  His  back  shows  lasting 
impressions  of  the  whip,  and  leaves  no  doubt  of  his  being  a 
slave."  These  are  mere  samples  of  thousands  of  similar 
20 


230  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

ones  showing  the  commonness  of  inhuman  whippings  in 
the  slave  states.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  slaveholders 
themselves,  voluntarily  certifying  to  the  outrages  which  their 
own  hands  have  committed  upon  defenseless  and  innocent 
men  and  women.  When  they  thus  testify  against  them- 
selves, they  are  under  no  temptation  to  exaggerate.  And 
this  is  so  common  in  the  south  that  it  attracts  no  attention. 

"The  great  mass  of  the  slaves  are  under  drivers  and 
overseers.  I  never  saw  an  overseer  without  a  whip ;  the 
whip  usually  carried  is  a  short  loaded  stock,  with  a  heavy 
lash  from  five  to  six  feet  long.  When  they  whip  a  slave 
they  make  him  pull  off  his  shirt,  if  he  has  one,  then  make 
him  lie  down  on  his  face,  and  taking  their  stand  at  the 
length  of  the  lash,  they  inflict  the  punishment.  Whippings 
are  so  universal  that  a  negro  that  has  not  been  whipped  is 
talked  of  in  all  the  region  as  a  wonder.  By  whipping  I  do 
not  mean  a  few  lashes  across  the  shoulders,  but  a  set 
flogging,  and  generally  lying  down. 

"On  sugar  plantations  generally,  and  on  some  cotton 
plantations,  they  have  negro-drivers,  who  are  in  such  a 
degree  responsible  for  their  gang,  that  if  they  are  at  fault, 
the  driver  is  whipped.  The  result  is,  the  gang  are  con- 
stantly driven  by  him  to  the  extent  of  the  influence  of  the 
lash  ;  and  it  is  uniformly  the  case  that  gangs  dread  a  negro- 
driver  more  than  a  white  overseer. 

"I  spent  a  winter  on  widow  Calvert's  plantation,  near 
Kodney,  Mississippi,  but  was  not  in  a  situation  to  see  extra- 
ordinary punishments.  Bellows,  the  overseer,  for  a  trifling 
offense,  took  one  of  the  slaves,  stripped  him,  and  with  a 
piece  of  burning  wood  applied  to  his  posteriors,  burned  him 
cruelly ;  while  the  poor  wretch  screamed  in  the  greatest 
agony.  The  principal  preparation  for  punishment  that  Bel- 
lows had,  was  single  handcuffs,  made  of  iron,  with  chains, 
by  which  the  offender  could  be  chained  to  four  stakes  on  the 
ground.  These  are  very  common  in  all  the  lower  country. 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  231 

I  noticed  one  slave  on  widow  Calvert's  plantation,  who  was 
whipped  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  lashes  every  fortnight 
during  the  whole  winter.  The  expression  'whipped  to 
death,'  as  applied  to  slaves,  is  common  at  the  south. 

"  Several  years  ago  I  was  going  below  New  Orleans,  in 
what  is  called  the  Plaquemine  country,  and  a  planter  sent 
down  in  my  boat  a  runaway  he  had  found  in  New  Orleans, 
to  his  plantation  at  Orange  Five  Points.  As  we  came  near 
the  Points  he  told  me,  with  deep  feeling,  that  he  expected 
to  be  whipped  almost  to  death :  pointing  to  a  grave-yard, 
he  said,  'There  lie  five  who  were  whipped  to  death.' 
Overseers  generally  keep  some  of  the  women  on  the  planta- 
tion ;  I  scarce  know  an  exception  to'  this.  Indeed,  their 
intercourse  with  them  is  very  promiscuous  ;  they  show  them 
not  much,  if  any,  favor.  Masters  frequently  follow  the 
example  of  their  overseers  in  this  thing."  (George  W. 
West-gate,  who  lived  several  years  in  the  south-western 
states.) 

"One  slave,  who  was  under  my  care,  was  whipped,  I 
think  one  hundred  lashes,  for  getting  a  small  handful  of 
wood  from  his  master's  yard  without  leave.  I  heard  an 
overseer  boasting  to  his  master  that  he  gave  one  of  the 
boys  seventy  lashes,  for  not  doing  a  job  of  work  just  as  he 
thought  it  ought  to  be  done.  The  owner  of  the  slave 
appeared  to  be  pleased  that  the  overseer  had  been  so  faith- 
ful. The  apology  they,  make  for  whipping  so  cruelly  is, 
that  it  is  to  frighten  the  rest  of  the  gang.  The  masters  say, 
that  what  we  call  an  ordinary  flogging  will  not  subdue  the 
slaves ;  hence,  the  most  cruel  and  barbarous  scourgings  ever 
witnessed  by  man  are  daily  and  hourly  inflicted  upon  the 
naked  bodies  of  these  miserable  bondmen ;  not  by  masters 
and  negro-drivers  only,  but  by  the  constables  in  the  com- 
mon markets  and  jailers  in  their  yards. 

"  It  is  very  common  for  masters  to  say  to  the  overseers  or 
drivers,  '  Put  it  on  to  them,'  '  Don't  spare  that  fellow,'  '  Give 


232  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

that  scoundrel  one  hundred  lashes,'  etc.  Whipping  the 
women  when  in  delicate  circumstances,  as  they  sometimes 
do,  without  any  regard  to  their  entreaties  or  the  entreaties  of 
their  nearest  friends,  is  truly  barbarous.  If  negroes  could 
testify,  they  would  tell  you  of  instances  of  women  being 
whipped  till  they  have  miscarried  at  the  whipping-post. 
I  heard  of  such  things  at  the  south ;  they  are  undoubtedly 
facts.  Children  are  whipped  unmercifully  for  the  smallest 
offenses,  and  that  before  their  mothers.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  blacks  have  their  shoulders,  backs,  and  arms  all 
scarred  up,  and  not  a  few  of  them  have  had  their  heads 
laid  open  with  clubs,  stones,  and  brickbats,  and  with  the 
but-end  of  whips  and  canes.  Some  have  had  their  jaws 
broken,  others  their  teeth  knocked  in  or  out ;  while  others 
have  had  their  ears  cropped  and  the  sides  of  their  cheeks 
gashed  out.  Some  of  the  poor  creatures  have  lost  the  sight 
of  one  of  their  eyes  by  the  careless  blows  of  the  whipper, 
or  by  some  other  violence. 

"  But  punishing  slaves  as  above  described,  is  not  the  only 
mode  of  torture.  Some  tie  them  up  in  a  very  uneasy  pos- 
ture, where  they  must  stand  all  night,  and  they  will  then 
work  them  hard  all  day ;  that  is,  work  them  hard  all  day, 
and  torment  them  all  night.  Others  punish  by  fastening 
them  down  on  a  log,  or  something  else,  and  strike  them  on 
the  bare  skin  with  a  broad  paddle  full  of  holes.  This 
breaks  the  skin,  1  should  presume,  at  every  hole  where  it 
comes  in  contact  with  it.  Others,  when  other  modes  of 
punishment  will  not  subdue  them,  cat-haul  them;  that  is, 
take  a  cat  by  the  nape  of  the  neck  and  tail,  or  by  the  hind 
legs,  and  drag  the  claws  across  the  back  till  satisfied. 
This  kind  of  punishment  poisons  the  flesh  much  worse  than 
the  whip,  and  is  more  dreaded  by  the  slave.  Some  are 
branded  by  a  hot  iron,  others  have  their  flesh  cut  out  in 
large  gashes,  to  mark  them.  Some  who  are  prone  to 
run  away,  have  iron  fetters  riveted  around  their  ankles, 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  233 

sometimes  they  are  put  only  on  one  foot,  and  are  dragged 
on  the  ground.  Others  have  on  large  iron  collars  or  yokes 
upon  their  necks,  or  clogs  riveted  upon  their  wrists  or 
ankles.  Some  have  bells  put  upon  them,  hung  upon  a  sort 
of  frame  to  an  iron  collar.  Many,  when  sick,  are  suspected 
by  their  masters  of  feigning  sickness,  and  are  therefore 
whipped  out  to  work  after  disease  has  got  fast  hold  of 
them.  When  the  masters  learn  that  they  are  really  sick, 
they  are  in  many  instances  left  alone  in  their  cabins  during 
work  hours ;  not  a  few  of  the  slaves  are  left  to  die  without 
having  one  friend  to  wipe  off  the  sweat  of  death.  When 
the  slaves  are  sick,  the  masters  do  not,  as  a  general  thing, 
employ  physicians,  but  'doctor'  them  themselves;  and 
their  mode  of  practice,  in  almost  all  cases,  is  to  bleed  and 
give  salts."  (Horace  Moulton.) 

"A  highly-intelligent  slave,  who  panted  after  freedom 
with  ceaseless  longings,  made  many  attempts  to  get  posses- 
sion of  himself.  For  every  offense  he  was  punished  with 
extreme  severity.  At  one  time  he  was  tied  up  by  his  hands 
to  a  tree,  and  whipped  till  his  back  was  one  gore  of  blood. 
To  this  terrible  infliction  he  was  subjected  at  intervals  for 
several  weeks,  and  kept  heavily  ironed  while  at  his  work. 
His  master  one  day  accused  him  of  a  fault,  in  the  usual 
terms  dictated  by  passion  and  arbitrary  power;  the  man 
protested  his  innocence,  but  was  not  credited.  He  again 
repelled  the  charge  with  honest  indignation.  His  master's 
temper  rose  almost  to  frenzy ;  and  seizing  a  fork,  he  made  a 
deadly  plunge  at  the  breast  of  his  slave.  The  man  being 
far  his  superior  in  strength,  caught  his  arm,  and  dashed  the 
weapon  on  the  floor.  His  master  grasped  at  his  throat,  but 
the  slave  disengaged  himself,  and  rushed  from  the  apart- 
ment. Having  made  his  escape,  he  fled  to  the  woods ;  and 
after  wandering  about  for  many  months,  living  on  roots  and 
berries,  and  enduring  every  hardship,  he  was  arrested  and 
committed  to  jail.  Here  he  lay  for  a  considerable  time, 
20* 


234  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

allowed  scarcely  food  enough  to  sustain  life,  whipped  in  the 
most  shocking  manner,  and  confined  in  a  cell  so  loathsome, 
that  when  his  master  visited  him,  he  said  the  stench  was 
enough  to  knock  a  man  down.  The  filth  had  never  been 
removed  from  the  apartment  since  the  poor  creature  had 
been  immured  in  it.  Although  a  black  man,  such  had 
been  the  effect  of  starvation  and  suffering,  that  his  master 
declared  he  hardly  recognized  him,  his  complexion  was  so 
yellow,  and  his  hair,  naturally  thick  and  black,  had  become 
red  and  scanty — an  infallible  sign  of  long-continued  living 
on  bad  and  insufficient  food.  Stripes,  imprisonment,  and 
the  gnawings  of  hunger,  had  broken  his  lofty  spirit  for  a 
season;  and,  to  use  his  master's  own  exulting  expression, 
he  was  'as  humble  as  a  dog.'  After  a  time  he  made 
another  attempt  to  escape,  and  was  absent  so  long,  that  a 
reward  was  offered  for  him,  dead  or  alive.  He  eluded 
every  attempt  to  take  him,  and  his  master,  despairing  of 
ever  getting  him  again,  offered  to  pardon  him  if  he  would 
return  home.  It  is  always  understood  that  such  intelligence 
will  reach  the  runaway ;  and  accordingly,  at  the  entreaties 
of  his  wife  and  mother,  the  fugitive  once  more  consented  to 
return  to  his  bitter  bondage>  I  believe  this  was  the  last 
effort  to  obtain  his  liberty.  His  heart  became  touched  with 
the  power  of  the  Gospel ;  and  the  spirit  which  no  inflictions 
could  sudue.  bowed  at  the  cross  of  Jesus,  and  with  the 
language  on  his  lips,  '  The  cup  that  my  Father  hath  given 
me,  shall  I  not  drink  it?'  submitted  to  the  yoke  of  the 
oppressor,  and  wore  his  chains  in  unmurmuring  patience  till 
death  released  him.  The  master  who  perpetrated  these 
wrongs  upon  his  slave,  was  one  of  the  most  influential  and 
honored  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  and  to  his  equals  was 
bland,  and  courteous,  and  benevolent  even  to  a  proverb." 
(Sarah  M.  Grimke.) 

4.  The  slaves  are  frequently  tortured  in  a  cruel  manner 
with  iron  collars,  chains,  fetters,  handcuffs,  and  the  like. 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  235 

Out  of  twenty-eight  advertisements  before  us,  published 
by  slaveholders  and  signed  by  their  names,  in  the  southern 
papers,  we  find  the  following  expressions :  "  Jim  had  a  large 
lock  chain  around  his  neck ;"  "  Squire  had  a  chain,  locked 
with  a  house  lock,  around  his  neck;"  "  Caroline  had  on  a  col- 
lar with  one  prong  turned  down ;"  "  Betsy  had  an  iron  bar  on 
her  right  leg;"  "Amos  had  a  chain  attached  to  one  of  his 
legs;"  "Patrick  is  handcuffed;"  "Manuel  is  much  marked 
with  irons;"  "Fanny  had  an  iron  band  about  her  neck;" 
"Had  on  a  large  neck-iron,  with  a  huge  pair  of  horns,  and 
a  large  bar  or  band  of  iron  on  his  left  leg ;"  "  Had  round 
his  neck  a  chain  dog-collar ;"  "  Thomas  has  a  ring  of  iron 
on  his  left  foot;  also  Grisee,  his  wife,  having  a  ring  and 
chain  on  the  left  leg;"  "Said  boy  was  ironed  when  he  left;" 
"Jim  had  on,  when  he  escaped,  a  pair  of  chain  handcuffs ;" 
"John  has  a  clog  of  iron  on  his  right  foot,  which  will  weigh 
four  or  five  pounds ;"  "  Myra  has  several  marks  of  lashing, 
and  has  irons  on  her  feet."  (See  Weld's  American  Slavery, 
pp.  72-77.) 

These  are  mere  specimens  of  the  instruments  of  torture 
employed  to  confine  and  punish  the  slaves.  The  list  of  the 
whole,  could  it  be  made  out,  would  be  a  long  one  indeed, 
and  would  approach  in  character  the  instruments  of  torture 
employed  by  the  inquisitors  themselves. 

5.  The  slaves  carry  with  them  the  marks  of  torture  on 
their  bodies,  such  as  these  instruments  of  torture  inflict, 
consisting  of  brandings,  maimings,  and  a  great  variety  of 
other  scars. 

The  following  are  such  expressions  as  are  commonly 
contained  in  the  advertisements  which  abound  in  southern 
papers,  announcing  runaways.  Out  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-three  advertisements  now  before  us,  we  select  the 
following  descriptive  phrases,  which  show  that  the  scars 
were  inflicted  by  deliberate  cruelty.  While  many  of  the 
marks  usually  mentioned  in  these  notices  may  be  the  result 


236  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  accident,  this  will  not  apply  to  the  following :  "  Pompey, 
forty  years  old;  he  is  branded  on  the  left  jaw;"  "Mary 
has  a  small  scar  over  her  eye,  a  good  many  teeth  missing ; 
the  letter  A  is  branded  on  her  cheek  and  forehead ;"  "  Ham- 
bleton  limps  on  his  left  foot,  where  he  was  shot  a  few  weeks 
ago  while  a  runaway;"  " Josiah  has  his  back  very  much 
scarred  by  the  whip,  and  branded  on  the  thigh  and  hips  in 
three  or  four  places  thus,  (J.  M.;)  the  rim  of  his  left  ear 
has  been  bit  or  cut  off;"  "Jim  Blake  has  a  piece  cut  out  of 
each  ear;"  "Fountain  has  holes  in  his  ears,  a  scar  on  the 
right  side  of  his  forehead ;  has  been  shot  in  the  hind  parts 
of  his  legs;  is  marked  on  the  back  with  the  whip  ;"  "John, 
left  ear  cropped ;"  "  Edmund  has  a  scar  on  his  right  temple 
and  under  his  right  eye,  and  holes  in  both  ears;"  "Jerry 
has  a  small  piece  cut  out  of  the  top  of  each  ear."  (See 
Weld's  American  Slavery,  pp.  77-93.) 

Cropping  or  cutting  pieces  out  of  the  ears,  seems  to  be  a 
favorite  mode  of  identifying  the  slaves.  The  knocking  out 
of  one  or  more  front  teeth  is  also  resorted  to,  as  this  is  an 
easily- ascertained  descriptive  mark.  And  then  the  brand- 
ings, and  other  modes  of  leaving  the  lasting  and  distinctive 
impress  of  correction,  seem  to  be  as  necessary  to  slave- 
holders, as  branding  and  cropping  of  various  animals  are 
by  their  owners.  Of  course,  whipping  seems  always  to 
have  been  high  in  favor  with  the  slaveholders,  so  that  what- 
ever marks  may  be  resorted  to,  this  must  always  form  a 
part, 

6.  As  we  have  seen  already,  the  master's  proxy  is  very 
often  intrusted  with  all  the  power  which  the  laws  of  slavery 
confer  on  the  master.  The  overseer,  and  his  substitute,  the 
driver,  are  the  executioners  of  the  slave  laws. 

The  office  of  overseer  is  among  the  last  which  an  enlight- 
ened and  conscientious  man  would  choose.  The  overseer  is 
mostly  notable  for  his  licentiousness  and  severity.  The  lash 
and  other  instruments  of  correction  are  put  into  his  hands. 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  23? 

And  then  the  driver,  who  is  more  dreaded  than  the  over- 
seer himself  for  his  cruelties,  is  the  agent  of  the  overseer 
to  execute  his  will.  The  Rev.  T.  S.  Clay,  of  Georgia,  ad- 
vises that  "  all  disputes  should  first  be  brought  to  the  driver, 
and  if  he  can  not  restore  peace,  let  the  master  or  overseer 
interfere."  The  very  name  of  driver  is  significant,  and 
could  not  be  applied  to  those  sub-agents,  unless  they  were 
clothed  with  authority  to  make  their  commands  respected. 

And  if  mercy  would  prevent  the  master  from  either 
inflicting  these  cruel  punishments  himself,  or  of  delegating 
them  to  the  overseer — and  he  has  recourse  to  the  very  com- 
mon mode  of  disposing  of  refractory  slaves,  namely,  to  sell 
them  to  the  slave-dealer — yet  this  does  not  relieve  him 
from  cruelty.  In  selling  his  slaves  into  merciless  hands,  he 
must  give  an  account  to  God  for  the  barbarities  inflicted  on 
them.  The  slave-dealers  are  notorious  for  cruelty.  The 
following  is  a  description  of  one,  given  by  the  Hon.  James 
K.  Paulding,  in  1817,  in  his  Letters  from  the  South.  That 
he  since,  to  please  southern  readers,  and  give  circulation  to 
his  book,  erased  this  from  his  next  edition,  does  not  invalid- 
ate his  testimony;  and  if  it  did,  there  are  a  thousand  wit- 
nesses who  can  testify  to  the  same  amount: 

"  At  one  of  the  taverns  along  the  road  we  were  set  down 
in  the  same  room  with  an  elderly  man  and  a  youth,  who 
seemed  to  be  well  acquainted  with  him,  for  they  conversed 
familiarly  and  with  true  republican  independence — for  they 
did  not  mind  who  heard  them.  From  the  tenor  of  his 
conversation  I  was  induced  to  look  particularly  at  the  elder. 
He  was  telling  the  youth  something  like  the  following 
detested  tale.  He  was  going,  it  seems,  to  Richmond,  to 
inquire  about  a  draft  for  seven  thousand  dollars,  which  he 
had  sent  by  mail,  but  which,  not  having  been  acknowledged 
by  his  correspondent,  he  was  afraid  had  been  stolen,  and 
the  money  received  by  the  thief.  'I  should  not  like  to  lose 
it,'  said  he,  'for  I  worked  hard  for  it,  and  sold  many  a  poor 


238  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

d 1  of  a  black  to  Carolina  and  Georgia,  to  scrape  it 

together.'  He  then  went  on  to  tell  many  a  perfidious  tale. 
All  along  the  road,  it  seems,  he  made  it  his  business  to 
inquire  where  lived  a  man  who  might  be  tempted  to  become 
a  party  in  this  accursed  traffic,  and  when  he  had  got  some 
half  dozen  of  these  poor  creatures,  he  tied  their  Jiands  behind 
tJieir  backs,  and  drove  them  three  or  four  hundred  miles  or 
more,  bareheaded  and  half  naked,  through  the  burning 
southern  sun.  Fearful  that  even  southern  humanity  would 
revolt  at  such  an  exhibition  of  human  misery  and  human 
barbarity,  he  gave  out  that  they  were  runaway  slaves  he 
was  carrying  home  to  their  masters.  On  one  occasion  a 
poor  black  woman  exposed  this  fallacy,  and  told  the  story 
of  her  being  kidnapped,  and  when  he  got  her  into  a  wood 
out  of  hearing,  he  beat  her,  to  use  his  own  expression,  '  till 
her  back  was  white.'  It  seems  he  married  all  the  men  and 
women  he  bought  himself,  because  they  would  sell  better 
for  being  man  and  wife !  '  But,'  said  the  youth,  '  were  you 
not  afraid,  in  traveling  through  the  wild  country,  and  sleep- 
ing in  lone  houses,  these  slaves  would  rise  and  kill  you?' 
'To  be  sure  I  was,'  said  the  other;  'but  I  always  fastened 
my  door,  put  a  chair  on  a  table  before  it,  so  that  it  might 
wake  me  in  falling,  and  slept  with  a  loaded  pistol  in  each 
hand.  It  was  a  bad  life,  and  I  left  it  off  as  soon  as  I  could 
live  without  it ;  for  many  is  the  time  I  have  separated  wives 
from  husbands,  and  husbands  from  wives,  and  parents  from 
children,  but  then  I  made  amends  by  marrying  them  again 
as  soon  as  I  had  a  chance ;  that  is  to  say,  I  made  them  call 
each  other  man  and  wife,  and  sleep  together,  which  is  quite 
enough  for  negroes.  I  made  one  bad  purchase,  though,' 
continued  he.  'I  bought  a  young  mulatto  girl,  a  lively 
creature,  a  great  bargain.  She  had  been  the  favorite  of 
her  master,  who  had  lately  married.  The  difficulty  was  to 
get  her  to  go,  for  the  poor  creature  loved  her  master. 
However,  I  swore  most  bitterly  I  was  only  going  to  take 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  239 

her  to  her  mother's  at ,  and  she  went  with  me,  though 

she  seemed  to  doubt  me  very  much.  But  when  she  discov- 
ered, at  last,  that  we  were  out  of  the  state,  I  thought  she 
would  go  mad,  and,  in  fact,  the  next  night  she  drowned 
herself  in  the  river  close  by.  I  lost  a  good  five  hundred 
dollars  by  this  foolish  trick.'  "  (Vol  i,  p.  121.) 

7.  The  cruel  treatment  of  slaves  leads  to  acts  of  inhu- 
manity, as  will  be  manifest  by  a  few  facts. 

The  shocking  indifference  manifested  at  the  death  of 
slaves  as  human  beings,  compared  with  the  grief  at  their 
loss  as  property,  is  a  strong  proof  of  inhumanity.  The 
following,  from  the  Charleston  (South  Carolina)  Patriot, 
will  exemplify  this  remark:  "The  loss  of  PROPERTY  has 
been  immense,  not  only  on  South  Santee,  but  also  on  this 
river.  Mr.  Shelbrood  has  lost  forty-six  negroes — the  ma- 
jority lost  being  the  primest  hands  he  had:  bricklayers, 
carpenters,  blacksmiths,  and  coopers.  Mrs.  Elias  Harry 
has  lost  thirty-two  negroes,  the  best  part  of  her  primest 
negroes  on  her  plantation." 

A  late  prospectus  of  the  South  Carolina  Medical  College, 
located  in  Charleston,  reads  thus :  "  No  place  in  the  United 
States  offers  as  great  opportunities  for  the  acquisition  of 
medical  knowledge,  subjects  being  obtained  from  among  the 
colored  population  in  sufficient  number  for  every  purpose, 
and  proper  dissections  carried  on  without  offending  any  indi- 
viduals in  the  community." 

In  the  Charleston  (South  Carolina)  Mercury,  of  October 
12,  1838,  Dr.  Stillman,  setting  forth  the  merits  of  a  medical 
infirmary  under  his  supervision,  in  Charleston,  advertises 
thus : 

"  To  Planters  and  Others. — Wanted,  fifty  negroes.  Any 
person  having  sick  negroes,  considered  incurable  by  their 
respective  physicians,  and  wishing  to  dispose  of  them,  Dr. 
Stillwell  will  pay  cash  for  negroes  affected  with  scrofula  or 
king's  evil,  confirmed  hypochondriacism,  apoplexy,  diseases 


240  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  the  liver,  kidneys,  spleen,  stomach,  and  intestines,  blad- 
der and  its  appendages,  diarrhea,  dysentery,"  etc. 

Here  the  Doctor  proposes  to  buy  up  the  damaged  negroes 
given  over  as  incurable.  And  this  is  a  standing  adver- 
tisement in  a  popular  paper,  which  shows  the  sentiment 
and  feeling  of  the  public  in  reference  to  the  unhappy 
slaves. 

Just  read  the  two  following  advertisements  by  females, 
by  which  it  appears  that  the  inhuman  current  of  sentiment 
and  feeling  growing  out  of  slavery  produces  its  legitimate 
results  every-where.  The  first  is  from  the  Huntsville  (Ala- 
bama) Democrat,  of  June  18,  1838: 

"  Ten  Dollars  Reward. — Ran  away  from  the  subscriber, 
a  negro  woman  named  Sally,  about  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  taking  along  her  two  children — one  three  years,  and 
the  other  seven  months  old.  These  negroes  were  PUR- 
CHASED BY  ME  at  the  sale  of  George  Mason's  negroes,  and 
left  a  few  days  after.  Any  person  delivering  them  to  the 
jailer  in  Huntsville,  or  to  me,  at  my  plantation,  five  miles 
above  Triana,  on  the  Tennessee  river,  shall  receive  the 
above  reward.  CHARITY  COOPER." 

The  other  is  from  the  Mississippian,  of  May  13,  1838: 

"  Ten  Dollars  Reward. — Ran  away  from  the  subscriber, 
a  man  named  Aaron,  yellow  complexion,  blue  eyes,  etc. 
I  have  no  doubt  he  is  lurking  about  Jackson  and  its  vicinity ; 
probably  harbored  by  some  of  the  negroes  sold  as  the 
property  of  my  late  husband — Harry  Long,  deceased. 
Some  of  them  are  about  Richland,  in  Madison  county. 
I  will  give  the  above  reward  when  brought  to  me,  about 
six  miles  north-west  of  Jackson,  or  put  in  jail,  so  that  I 
can  get  him.  LUCY  LONG." 

Read  also  the  following  advertisement  from  the  Charles- 
ton (South  Carolina)  Mercury: 

"Negroes  for  Sale. — A  girl  about  twenty  years  of  age — 
raised  in  Virginia — and  her  two  female  children — one  four 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  241 

and  the  other  two  years  old;  is  remarkably  strong  and 
healthy,  never  having  had  a  day's  sickness,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  small-pox,  in  her  life.  The  children  are  fine 
and  healthy.  She  is  very  prolific  in  her  generating  qualities, 
and  affords  a  rare  opportunity  to  any  person  who  wishes 
to  raise  a  family  of  strong  and  healthy  servants  for  their 
own  use.  Any  person  wishing  to  purchase  will  please 
leave  their  address  at  the  Mercury  office." 

Thus  the  public  sentiment  seems  clearly  to  be  formed  so 
as  to  have  little  repugnance  to  such  revolting  advertise- 
ments as  those  before  quoted,  which  are  mere  specimens  of 
thousands  of  others  of  similar  character.  The  higher  and 
most  honorable  classes  of  society  in  the  south  are  deeply 
imbued  with  this  atrocious  feeling.  The  Hon.  John  Ran- 
dolph, in  one  of  his  Congressional  speeches,  asks:  "But 
where  are  the  trophies  of  avarice?  The  handcuff,  the 
manacle,  the  blood-stained  cow-hide!  What  man  is  worse 
received  in  society  for  being  a  hard  master?  Who  denies 
the  hand  of  a  sister  or  daughter  to  such  monsters?"  The 
Hon.  Whitemarsh  B.  Seabrook,  of  South  Carolina,  in  1834, 
says,  "I  consider  imprisonment  in  the  stocks  at  night,  with 
or  without  hard  labor  in  the  day,  as  a  powerful  auxiliary  in 
the  cause  of  good  government.  To  the  correctness  of  this 
opinion  many  can  bear  testimony.  EXPERIENCE  has  con- 
vinced ME  that  there  is  no  punishment  to  which  the  slave 
looks  with  more  horror" 

8.  From  the  foregoing  we  may  justly  infer,  that  the 
system  of  slaver}'  is  sinful,  because  it  permits  and  au- 
thorizes such  cruelties  as  are  detailed  above. 

The  moral  evils,  or  rather  actual  sins,  flowing  from  man's 
taking  the  place  of  God,  are  fully  apparent  in  the  slave 
system,  as  it  is  established  by  law,  supported  by  judicial 
decisions,  and  especially  as  actually  practiced  in  the  slave 
states. 

Hear  the  Rev.  T.  S.  Clay,  of  Bryan  county,  Georgia,  in 
21 


242  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVEAV. 

his  "Detail  for  the  Moral  Improvement  of  Negroes  on 
Plantations."  On  "crimes  and  punishments"  he  says: 

"  There  are  several  prevailing  errors  connected  with  crime 
and  punishment  in  the  present  system  of  plantation  dis- 
cipline. And  first,  there  exists  a  wrong  scale  of  crime. 
Offenses  against  the  master  are  more  severely  punished 
than  violations  of  the  law  of  God,  or  faults  which  affect  the 
slave's  personal  character  or  good.  As  examples,  we  may 
notice  that  running  away  is  more  severely  punished  than 
adultery,  and  idleness  than  Sabbath- breaking,  and  swearing 
and  stealing  from  the  master  than  defrauding  a  fellow-slave. 

"Under  the  influence  of  such  a  code  as  this,  it  can  not 
be  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the  negro  forms  false  estimates 
of  the  comparative  criminality  of  actions.  And  further, 
the  general  mode  of  inflicting  punishments  tends  to  con- 
found those  distinctions.  The  whip  is  the  general  instru- 
ment of  correction;  and  so  long  as  the  negro  is  whipped 
without  discrimination  for  the  neglect  of  work,  for  stealing, 
lying,  Sabbath-breaking,  and  swearing,  he  will  very  nat- 
urally class  them  all  together,  as  belonging  to  the  same 
grade  of  guilt.  In  a  good  code  of  discipline,  the  punish- 
ment will  always  be  suited  to  the  nature  and  enormity  of 
the  crime;  and  it  is  highly  important  that  this  measure 
should  be  well  adjusted,  for  the  common  people  will  judge 
of  the  criminality  of  the  act  by  the  nature  and  extent  of 
the  punishment. 

"  Another  error  is  obvious  in  the  defective  presentation  of 
the  design  of  punishment.  The  negro  is  seldom  taught  to 
feel  that  he  is  punished  for  breaking  God's  law.  He  only 
knows  his  master  as  lawgiver  and  executioner ;  and  the  sole 
object  of  punishment  held  up  to  his  view  is  to  make  him  a 
more  obedient  and  profitable  slave.  He  oftener  hears  that 
he  shall  be  punished  if  he  steals  than  if  he  breaks  the 
Sabbath  or  swears;  and  thus  he  sees  the  very  threatening 
of  God  brought  to  bear  upon  his  master's  interests.  It  is 


CKUELT1ES  OF  SLAVERY.  243 

very  manifest  to  him  that  his  own  good  is  very  far  from 
forming  the  primary  reason  for  his  chastisement.  His  mas- 
ter's interests  are  to  be  secured  at  all  events.  God's  claims 
are  secondary,  or  enforced  merely  for  the  purpose  of 
advancing  those  of  his  owner.  His  own  benefit  is  the 
residuum  after  this  double  distillation  of  moral  motive — a 
mere  accident." 

According  to  the  benevolent  Mr.  Clay,  as  "  God's  claims 
are  secondary,"  and  those  of  the  master  supreme,  the 
divine  law  is  superseded,  and  offenses  against  the  master  are 
more  severely  punished  than  violations  of  the  law  of  God. 

Indeed,  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Clay  supports  the  fact, 
that  the  master  stands  to  the  slave  in  the  place  of  the  civil 
law  as  well  as  the  divine.  "  The  fear  of  corporeal  punish- 
ment is  the  only  motive  peculiar  to  a  slave  system."  So 
says  Mr.  Clay  in  the  following  extract: 

"  The  civil  offenses  of  negroes  are  too  often  punished  on 
the  plantation  instead  of  being  prosecuted  according  to 
law.  They  should  be  taught  that  they  are  subject  to  the 
laws  of  the  state,  both  when  they  violate  those  laws  and 
when  they  are  violated  in  their  person.  The  fear  of  cor- 
poreal punishment  is  the  only  motive  peculiar  to  a  system 
of  slavery.  But  if  we  desire  to  promote  right  conduct  for 
its  moral  not  pecuniary  advantage,  moral  motives  must  be 
exhibited;  for  the  character  of  an  action  partakes  prima- 
rily of  the  nature  of  its  motive.  Should  the  fear  of  pun- 
ishment alone  deter  the  slave  from  stealing,  he  would  be 
still  destitute  of  the  principle  of  honesty — of  that  which 
constitutes  a  moral  trait,  hi  his  forbearance  to  take  what 
belongs  to  another." 

In  short,  moral  motives  have,  it  seems,  no  weight  with 
the  slaves — the  whip  only,  and  the  other  modes  of  correc- 
tion, are  the  great  moving  agencies  to  be  employed  in  cor- 
recting slaves.  And  how  can  the  masters,  in  general,  be 
influenced  by  better  motives  than  the  slaves  themselves 


244  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

are?  Indeed,  if  such  a  system  as  this  be  not  sinful,  then 
sin  must  have  long  since  been  banished  from  our  world. 

9.  But  there  are  several  objections  raised  against  the  ex- 
istence or  extent  of  the  alleged  cruelties  and  inhumanity 
of 'slavery.  Some  of  these  it  will  be  proper  to  notice. 

It  is  said  "that  such  cruelties  are  incredible."  We 
maintain  the  contrary,  because  slavery  regards  slaves  as 
property  and  not  as  men.  Hence,  they  are  treated  as 
property,  and  not  as  human  beings. 

The  following  extracts,  from  the  laws  of  slave  states,  are 
proofs  sufficient: 

"The  slave  is  ENTIRELY  subject  to  the  WILL  of  his  mas- 
ter." (Louisiana  Civil  Code,  art.  273.) 

"Slaves  shall  be  deemed,  sold,  taken,  reputed,  and  ad- 
judged in  law  to  be  chattels  personal,  in  the  hands  of  their 
owners  and  possessors,  and  their  executors,  administrators, 
and  assigns,  TO  ALL  INTENTS,  CONSTRUCTIONS,  AND  PURPOSES 
WHATSOEVER."  (Laws  of  South  Carolina,  2  Brev.  Dig.,  229 ; 
Prince's  Digest,  446,  etc.) 

Indeed,  genuine  slaveholders  regard  their  slaves  as  mere 
working  animals  or  merchandise.  Their  laws,  usages,  and 
common  phraseology  establish  this.  The  same  terms  are 
applied  to  slaves  that  are  used  in  reference  to  cattle.  They 
are,  as  previously  stated,  called  "  stock."  When  their  chil- 
dren are  spoken  of  prospectively,  they  are  called  "increase." 
The  female  slaves  that  are  mothers  are  called  "  breeders," 
till  they  are  past  child-bearing.  The  "  drivers  "  compel  the 
labor.  They  are  included  in  the  same  advertisements  with 
any  other  vendible  articles.  They  are  bought,  and  sold,  and 
separated  like  cattle.  They  are  left  by  inheritance,  and 
pecuniary  value  attached  to  them  like  real  estate,  stock,  and 
any  other  kind  of  property.  Hence,  as  Col.  Dayton,  of 
South  Carolina,  said  in  Congress,  "the  northerner  looks 
upon  a  band  of  negroes  as  upon  so  many  men,  but  the 
planter  or  southerner  views  them  in  a  very  different  light." 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  245 

Or,  as  Mr.  Sumers,  of  Virginia,  said,  in  1832:  "When,  in 
the  sublime  lessons  of  Christianity,  he  [the  slaveholder]  is 
taught  to  'do  unto  others  as  he  would  have  others  do  unto 
him,'  he  never  dreams  that  the  degraded  negro  is  within 
the  pale  of  that  holy  canon."  Or,  in  the  language  of  Jef- 
ferson in  1814,  who  says  of  slaveholders,  "Nursed  and 
educated  in  the  daily  habit  of  seeing  the  degraded  condi- 
tion, both  bodily  and  mental,  of  these  unfortunate  beings, 
few  minds  have  yet  doubted  but  that  they  were  as  legiti- 
mate subjects  of  property  as  their  horses  or  cattle." 

Indeed,  the  slaves  are  often  worse  treated  than  if  they 
were  beasts.  And  this  can  be  easily  shown  from  innu- 
merable acts  exhibited  toward  the  slaves  from  their  over- 
seers and  masters. 

If  it  be  said  "that  public  opinion  is  a  counteraction  to 
these  cruelties,"  we  reply,  It  was  public  opinion  that  made 
the  slaves.  For  the  laws  are  no  more  than  public  opinion 
in  legal  forms.  Public  opinion  continually  robs  the  slaves, 
by  declaring  that  those  who  robbed  their  mothers  may  also 
rob  them  and  their  children.  Public  opinion  permits  and 
authorizes  their  masters  to  flog,  wound,  and  beat  them  when 
they  please.  The  Supreme  Court  of  South  Carolina  de- 
cided that  the  "criminal  offense  of  assault  and  battery  can 
not,  at  common  law,  be  committed  on  the  person  of  a 
slave."  This  public  opinion,  embodied  in  law,  deprives 
them  of  trial  by  jury;  interferes  with  their  consciences, 
by  preventing  them  from  worshiping  God,  unless  their  op- 
pressors are  present;  it  robs  them  of  their  character,  by 
branding  them  as  liars,  and  denying  them  their  oath  in  law ; 
it  disregards  their  modesty,  by  leaving  it  with  their  masters 
to  clothe  or  let  them  go  naked,  as  he  pleases.  This  public 
opinion  deprives  the  slaves  of  their  liberty,  the  marriage 
relations,  parental  authority,  and  filial  obligations.  Such  is 
the  protection  which  public  opinion,  in  the  form  of  law, 
furnishes  to  the  slaves. 

21* 


246  CRUELTIES  OK  SLAVERY. 

10.  The  denial  of  these  cruelties  by  some  southern  and 
northern  men,  too,  by  no  means  invalidates  the  truth  of  the 
foregoing  statements  and  testimonies.  Dr.  Fuller,  in  his 
answer  to  Wayland,  feebly  wards  off,  as  follows,  the  charge 
of  cruelty  brought  against  slaveholders : 

"  In  your  last  letter  there  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  and 
solemn  exhortation,  which  I  hope  may  do  good.  It  applies, 
however,  entirely  to  the  slave  laws,  and  to  abuses  not  to  be 
defended.  In  some  matters  you  are  grossly  misinformed. 
At  least  I  never  heard  of  the  atrocities  you  mention ;  such, 
for  example,  as  the  prohibition  of  marriage,  and  the  defense 
of  profligacy  in  the  abuse  of  female  slaves  for  purposes  of 
convenience  and  pecuniary  advantage."  (Letters  to  Way- 
land,  p.  221.) 

Dr.  Fuller  overlooks,  in  the  above  extract,  the  leading 
features  of  slavery,  which  are  supported  by  the  slave  laws ; 
and  the  workings  of  slavery,  as  authorized  by  law,  and 
maintained  by  judicial  proceedings,  are  by  no  means  abuses 
of  slavery,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  its  natural  and  legitimate 
workings.  All  the  black  catalogue  of  unjust  treatment, 
nay,  of  cruel  usage,  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  and  through- 
out the  chapters  of  these  volumes,  is  nothing  else  than  the 
true  manifestations  of  slavery  in  its  legitimate  characteristics. 
Who  does  not  know  that  marriage  and  all  the  holy  relations 
of  marriage,  are  unknown  to  the  slave  code  and  the  practice 
of  slavery  ?  Just  while  we  are  penning  this  paragraph,  the 
news  has  reached  us  of  the  case  of  Edmondson's  two 
daughters,  who,  by  their  wicked  owner,  have  been  held  at 
enormous  prices,  in  consequence  of  the  demand  for  such 
females  in  the  southern  market  for  the  vilest  of  purposes. 
And  the  history  of  slavery  has  this  same  accursed  abomi- 
nation as  one  of  its  great  leading  topics,  ever  since  slavery 
existed.  Slaveholders  can  never  get  rid  of  this  charge. 
Its  witnesses  are  legions;  its  acts  are  manifest  before  the 
sun.  The  polluting  amalgamation  of  slavery  has  infected 


CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY.  247 

he  whole  population  of  the  south ;  and  its  enormities  are 
scarcely  exceeded  by  the  abominations  of  Sodom. 

But  Dr.  Fuller,  as  well  as  the  stoutest  champions  for 
slavery,  has  evaded  the  point  under  discussion.  This  point 
was  American  slavery,  as  authorized  by  law,  sustained  by 
court  decisions,  and  practiced  under  the  sanction  and  pro- 
tection of  these  laws  and  these  decisions.  He  seems  to 
reject  that  slavery  which  law  sustains,  and  forms  another 
system  founded  on  "justice  and  love."  He  says: 

"With  these  weapons  they  [the  apostles]  did  extirpate 
at  once,  from  among  Christians,  the  Roman  system  of 
slavery — and  let  me  say,  too,  that  with  these  arms  they 
are  now  contending  against  the  southern  abuses  of  slavery ; 
but  slavery  itself — softened  and  so  entirely  changed  by 
Christianity,  that  the  relation  between  the  parties  was  one 
of  justice  and  love — they  not  only  did  not  attack,  but  per- 
mitted, both  by  their  precepts  and  conduct."  (Letters  to 
Wayland,  p.  214.) 

Now,  a  slavery  guided  by  justice  and  love  is  no  slavery 
at  all,  but  a  servitude,  at  the  utmost  variance  with  Ameri- 
can slavery.  As  proof  of  this,  just  look  at  the  slavery 
which  Dr.  Fuller  himself  endeavors  to  practice  in  the  midst 
of  surrounding  slavery.  Hear  him : 

"In  a  familiar  correspondence  like  this,  I  may  be  par- 
doned for  saying,  that,  during  twelve  years,  I  have  devoted 
the  salary  given  me,  whenever  at  my  disposal,  to  the  spirit- 
ual instruction  of  the  slaves ;  and  am  now  doing  so.  With 
reference  to  my  own  servants,  their  condition  is  as  good  as 
I  can  make  it.  They  are  placed  under  a  contract,  which 
no  instrument  of  writing  could  make  more  sacred.  By  this 
contract  they,  on  their  part,  perform  not  one-half  the  work 
done  by  free  laborers;  and  I,  on  my  part,  am  bound  to 
employ  a  missionary  to  teach  and  catechise  them  and 
their  children,  to  provide  them  a  home,  and  clothes,  and 
provisions,  and  fuel,  and  land  to  plant  for  themselves,  to  pay 


248  CRUELTIES  OF  SLAVERY. 

all  medical  bills,  to  guarantee  to  them  all  the  profits  of 
their  skill  and  labor  in  their  own  time,  to  protect  them  as 
a  guardian,  and  to  administer  to  the  wants  of  the  children, 
and  of  those  that  are  sick,  and  infirm,  and  aged."  (Letters, 
p.  222.) 

Now,  according  to  slavery,  no  slave  can  make  a  contract, 
nor  can  he  enjoy  such  privileges  as  Dr.  Fuller,  in  justice 
and  love,  no  doubt,  confers  on  his  servants.  His  plan  is  in 
utter  hostility  to  slavery,  and  would  eventuate  in  its  de- 
struction, just  as  the  principles  of  justice  and  love  would 
destroy  slavery.  Indeed,  Mr.  Fuller  is  scarcely  any  thing 
else  than  an  antislavery  man.  Nay,  he  is  a  very  aboli- 
tionist, in  the  practical  sense  of  that  term;  and  were  his 
system  to  be  adopted  generally,  slavery  must  fall  under  its 
operation,  just  because  it  is  founded  in  justice  and  love,  to 
which  slavery  is  in  direct  antagonism.  We  should  not  be 
surprised  to  hear  that  Dr.  Fuller  is  banished  from  the  south, 
as  an  incendiary,  an  insurrectionist,  and  an  abolitionist. 

11.  It  is  gratifying  to  learn,  that  many  in  the  south,  who 
are  even  slaveholders,  and  even  apologists  for  it,  are  never- 
theless compelled,  from  a  sense  of  justice  and  Christian 
love,  to  repudiate  some  of  the  leading  characteristics  of 
slavery,  and  to  inculcate  principles  in  hostility  to  it.  And 
yet  there  is  a  strange  inconsistency  in  this;  because  these 
very  things  are  not  abuses  of  slavery,  as  they  no  doubt 
innocently  suppose,  but  they  either  form  some  of  its  essen- 
tial qualities,  or  are  the  inevitable  results  or  fruits  of  the 
system,  and^can  never  be  separated  from  the  system  of 
which  they  form  essential  parts,  or  are  its  inevitable  conse- 
quences. Cruelty  is  as  truly  a  part  of  the  slave  system  as 
love  is  of  Christianity.  The  moral  feelings  which  led  to 
the  seizure  and  sale  of  Joseph  are  generally  required  to 
commence  or  continue  the  system  of  slavery  in  any  country. 
h;:  ^jdfal-j  Iisrfe.  \vtr.od  ,;  «««*?*  ->M  '  rl- .  ,  -w^i 


PART  IV. 

CONTRARIETY  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES 


CHAPTER   I. 

SLAVERY  CONTRARY  TO  MANY  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

HERETOFORE  we  showed  the  sinfulness  of  slavery  from 
the  sinful  sources  in  which  it  originated — from  the  charac- 
teristics common  to  it  and  the  African  slave-trade.  We 
showed,  too,  that  American  slavery  deprived  its  subjects  of 
their  inalienable  rights,  and  that  it  inflicted  on  them  many 
injuries  or  wrongs.  And  that  these  prove  the  sinfulness  of 
slavery,  we  have  fully  shown.  We  will  now  proceed  to 
show, 

1.  That  slavery  is  contrary  to  many  Scriptural  prohibi- 
tions. 

2.  Contrary  to  many  Scriptural  injunctions  or  commands. 

3.  Contrary  to  Scripture  principles  and  privileges. 

4.  It  is  against  the  decalogue  or  moral  law. 

5.  Slavery  vs.  the  spirit  of  Christianity. 

1.  American  slavery  is  contrary  to  many  Scriptural  pro- 
hibitions. 

(1.)  And  first,  the  despotism  or  tyranny  of  slavery  is 
clearly  prohibited  in  Scripture. 

Let  us  just  see  the  kind  and  degree  of  the  master's 
power  over  the  slave.  According  to  Roman  or  civil  law, 
"  slaves  were  held,  pro  nullis;  pro  mortuis;  pro  quadruped- 
ibus — as  nothing ;  as  dead  persons ;  as  beasts."  (Stroud 
p.  21.) 

A  slaveholder  is  one  who  possesses  an  absolute  right  of 
property  in  the  persons  of  such  as  the  laws  recognize  to  him 
as  slaves.  Or,  as  the  laws  of  Louisiana  have  it,  "  A  slave 
is  one  who  is  in  the  power  of  a  master,  to  whom  he  belongs. 
The  master  may  sell  him,  dispose  of  his  person,  his  indus- 
try, and  his  labor :  he  can  do  nothing,  possess  nothing,  nor 
acquire  any  thing  but  what  must  belong  to  his  master." 
(Stroud,  p.  22.)  The  same  thing  is  thus  expressed  in  the 

251 


252  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

laws  of  South  Carolina :  "  Slaves  shall  be  deemed,  sold, 
taken,  reputed  and  adjudged  in  law  to  be  chattels  personal, 
in  the  hands  of  their  owners  and  possessors,  and  their 
executors,  administrators,  and  assigns,  to  all  intents,  con- 
structions, and  purposes  whatever."  (Stroud,  p.  23.) 

Here  the  absolute  despotism  of  slavery  has,  by  legal 
enactment,  the  most  comprehensive  grant  of  power.  Under 
these  and  similar  legal  grants  and  judicial  decisions,  the 
master  has  unlimited  sway  over  the  persons  of  the  slaves, 
as  his  subjects  to  obey  his  commands.  He  can  sell  or  give 
them  to  whomsoever  he  will ;  he  can  determine  the  kind, 
degree,  and  time  of  labor ;  he  has  power  to  give  them  such 
food  and  clothing  as  he  sees  fit ;  he  can  compel  them  to 
marry  or  forbear,  and  separate  them  when  married,  at  his 
pleasure ;  he  can  whip,  beat,  chain,  or  imprison  them,  at  his 
will ;  he  can  transfer  all  these  powers  to  his  substitute,  who 
can  exercise  them  in  the  same  despotic  manner.  And  all 
these  branches  of  power,  as  well  as  many  others  growing 
out  of  them,  may  be  exercised,  without  hinderance  from  the 
law  of  the  land ;  nay,  the  laws  guarantee  all  these  powers 
to  the  slaveholder,  and  defend  him  in  the  exercise  of  them. 

And,  indeed,  such  are  the  views  entertained  by  slave- 
holders themselves  respecting  the  character  of  their  power. 

Dr.  Fuller  says  :  "  My  position  discloses  to  me  the  truth, 
which  I  will  express,  in  so  many  words,  by  saying  that 
slavery,  absolute  and  unqualified  slavery,  is  despotism." 
(Letters,  p.  153.) 

Jefferson,  in  his  Notes  on  Virginia,  (Philadelphia  edition, 
p.  251,)  says:  "The  whole  commerce  between  master  and 
slave  is  a  perpetual  exercise  of  the  most  boisterous  passions, 
the  most  UNREMITTING  DESPOTISM  on  the  one  part,  and 
degrading  submission  on  the  other.  The  parent  storms,  the 
child  looks  on,  catches  the  lineaments  of  wrath,  puts  on  the 
same  airs  in  the  circle  of  smaller  slaves,  gives  loose  to  the 
worst  of  passions ;  and  thus  nursed,  educated,  and  daily 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  253 

exercised  in  TYRANNY,  can  not  but  be  stamped  -with  its  odious 
peculiarities." 

The  late  Edwin  C.  Holland,  in  a  "  Refutation  of  the  Cal- 
umnies circulated  against  the  Southern  and  Western  States," 
declares  :  "  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  all  slaveholders  have 
laid  down  non-resistance  and  the  most  perfect  and  uniform 
obedience  to  their  orders  as  fundamental  principles  in  the 
government  of  their  slaves.  This  necessarily  results  from 
the  relation  in  which  they  stand;  and  we  might  as  well 
denounce  that  government  a  despotism,  that  punishes  any 
infringement  of  its  laws,  as  to  call  that  a  tyranny  which  is 
nothing  more  or  less  than  an  authority  unavoidably  from  the 
very  character  of  the  connection  between  master  and  slave." 
(P.  4*7  ;  see  Quarterly  Antislavery  Magazine,  i,  93.)  Here 
non-resistance,  the  most  perfect  and  uniform  obedience,  are 
necessary  to  the  existence  of  slavery. 

The  Hon.  Whitemarsh  B.  Seabrook  in  his  "  Essay  on  the 
Management  of  Slaves,"  p.  4,  says :  "  Every  plantation  rep- 
resents a  little  community  differing  from  its  chief  in  color, 
habits,  and  general  character.  The  members  of  this  com- 
munity are  his  lawful  property.  Over  them  he  exercises 
executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  powers."  (See  Anti- 
slavery  Magazine,  i,  93.) 

That  American  slaveholders  possess  a  power  over  their 
slaves  which  is  virtually  absolute,  none  can  deny.  That 
they,  as  a  whole,  desire  this  power,  is  proved  from  the  fact 
of  their  holding  and  exercising  it,  and  making  laws  to 
confirm  and  enlarge  it,  as  well  as  their  furious  threats 
against  all  who  denounce  the  exercise  of  such  power  as 
usurpation,  outrage,  and  tyranny. 

Nor  do  some  restraining  laws,  which  in  most  cases  are 
never  executed,  and  in  the  few  cases  of  execution  have  no 
general  influence,  have  any  force  to  remove  the  despotism 
and  tyranny  of  slavery.  It  is  the  very  nature  of  such 
despotism  as  is  embraced  in  slavery,  to  resist  and  despise 
22 


254  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

all  such  restraints.  Of  this  there  can  be  given  innumerable 
proofs. 

The  very  words  and  phrases  employed  to  designate  this 
power  are  full  proof  that  such  power  will  always  terminate 
in  pure  despotism  of  the  most  oppressive  kind.  We  notice, 
as  examples,  the  words  despot  and  despotic;  tyrant  and 
tyranny;  arbitrary,  etc.  Despot  signifies,  etymologically, 
one  who  possesses  arbitrary  power.  But  as  those  generally 
who  possessed  arbitrary  power,  have  exercised  it  oppres- 
sively, the  word  now  means  the  capricious,  unmerciful,  and 
cruel  exercise  of  power.  So  the  word  tyrant  meant  one  who 
possessed  arbitrary  power ;  but  now  it  signifies  one  who  exer- 
cises power  to  the  injury  of  others.  The  words  tyranny  and 
tyrannical  follow  the  same  analogy.  So  does  the  word  arbi- 
trary, which  formerly  was  applied  to  that  which  pertains  to 
the  will  of  one  independently  of  others ;  but  as  those  who 
had  no  restraint  on  their  wills,  in  the  exercise  of  power, 
became  generally  capricious,  unreasonable,  and  oppressive, 
arbitrary  power  becomes  an  expressive  designation  to 
describe  unjust  and  oppressive  power. 

The  examples  of  individuals  and  nations  show  that  such 
power  as  is  comprised  in  enslaving  others  has  always  run  into 
cruelty,  injustice,  and  oppression.  The  cases  of  nations  are 
numerous,  such  as  Babylon,  Persia,  and  nearly  all  ancient 
nations.  But  the  case  of  Egypt  is  most  striking.  By  the 
exercise  of  despotic  power,  unrestrained  by  just  laws,  the 
Israelites  were  enslaved.  Cases  of  individuals,  without 
number,  could  be  adduced,  to  establish  further  the  truth  we 
maintain.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  to  vindicate  slavery, 
without  vindicating  every  species  and  every  degree  of 
tyranny  exemplified  in  the  world.  (See  specimens  of  this 
in  "Slavery  As  It  Is,"  pp.  118-121.) 

The  sentiment  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  "  that 
all  men  are  by  nature  free  and  independent,"  is  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  despotism  of  slavery.  It  is  impossible, 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  255 

therefore,  to  vindicate  slavery  without  condemning  the 
political  government  of  our  nation.  It  throws  odium  on  the 
authors  of  our  revolutionary  independence,  and  brands  the 
name  of  Franklin,  Washington,  Jay,  Adams,  Hancock,  and 
their  associates,  with  the  opprobious  names  of  robbers, 
murderers,  and  rebels.  If  the  despotism  of  slavery  be 
right,  then  a  republican  government  is  wrong;  for  if  des- 
potical  government  be  lawful  over  one  or  ten,  it  is  equally 
lawful  over  one  hundred,  one  thousand,  a  million,  or  ten 
millions.  Now,  as  slavery  is  incompatible  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  free  government,  or,  in  other  words,  with  equal 
and  just  rights,  slavery  must  be  morally  wrong. 

Indeed,  the  unlimited  despotism  of  southern  slavery 
seems  to  contemplate  the  subjugation  of  the  free  labor- 
ing population  of  the  non-slaveholding  states,  to  a  despot- 
ism as  great  as  that  of  the  southern  slaves.  Governor 
M'Duffie's  message  distinctly  avows  this,  in  declaring  that 
"domestic  slavery,  in  the  place  of  being  a  political  evil,  is 
the  corner-stone  of  our  republican  edifice  ;"  that  "the  insti- 
tution of  domestic  slavery  supersedes  the  necessity  of  an 
order  of  nobility."  Hence,  Mr.  M'Duffie  contends  that  the 
non-slaveholding  states,  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
will  be  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  slavery,  or  "take 
refuge  from  robbery  and  anarchy,  under  a  military  despot- 
ism." Many  and  powerful  influences,  within  the  last  few 
years,  have  been  put  forth  by  the  leading  men  in  the  south, 
in  continuing  the  despotism  of  slavery,  and  virtually  to 
extend  the  institution  to  the  laboring  classes  of  the  north. 
The  various  movements  in  suppressing  discussion,  interfering 
with  the  freedom  of  the  press,  special  legislative  acts,  and 
resolutions  of  public  meetings,  go  to  show  this  with  great 
clearness ;  so  that  the  peculiar  despotism  of  slavery,  uneasy 
for  its  own  safety,  is  zealous  and  active  in  promoting  its 
despotism  where  it  does  not  now  exist.  (See  an  able 
pamphlet,  published  in  Boston,  by  the  Massachusetts 


256  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

Antislavery  Society,  printed  by  Isaac  Knapp,  1836,  entitled 
"  A  full  Statement  of  the  Reasons  which  were  in  part  offered 
to  the  Committee  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,"  etc., 
pj>.  48.) 

Now,  despotism,  or  tyranny  in  general,  and  the  despotism 
and  tyranny  of  slavery  in  particular,  are  expressly  forbidden 
in  the  word  of  God,  and  condemned  in  a  great  variety  of 
ways.  We  mention  the  following  points,  which  could  be 
fully  sustained  by  quotations  from  holy  Scripture. 

Righteousness  and  justice  is  enjoined  on  all  who  govern, 
as  the  rule  of  conduct,  and  not  the  mere  will  of  the  ruler. 

God  gave  express  laws  for  this  very  purpose  in  his  reve- 
lation to  Moses,  which  are  binding  on  all  rulers.  And  all 
despotic  laws  are  condemned  by  the  enactments  of  justice 
and  righteousness  contained  in  the  Mosaic  code. 

The  despotism  of  the  rich  is  condemned. 

The  despotism  of  rulers  is  particularly  condemned. 

All  arbitrary  conduct  from  man  to  man  is  condemned, 
except  so  far  as  it  is  guided  by  the  principles  of  justice  and 
right. 

How  true  is  the  following  declaration  of  Cassius  M. 
Clay!  After  enumerating  the  evils  of  slavery,  he  asks: 
"Where  all  these  evils  exist,  can  liberty,  constitutional 
liberty,  live?  No,  indeed,  it  can  not,  and  has  not  existed  in 
conjunction  with  slavery." 

(2.)  The  degradation  of  slavery  is  to  be  deprecated  and 
shunned.  "If  thou  canst  be  free  use  it  rather." 

The  sentiment  of  the  civil  law  in  regard  to  slaves  is 
equally  true  of  American  slavery,  and  of  slavery  in  general, 
in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries.  (See  Stroud,  p.  21.) 

Slaves  were  held,  pro  nullis;  pro  mortuis;  pro  quadru- 
pedibus — as  nothing ;  as  dead ;  as  quadrupeds.  They  had 
no  head  in  the  state ;  no  name,  title,  or  register ;  they  were 
not  capable  of  being  injured,  nor  could  they  take  by  pur- 
chase or  descent.  They  had  no  heirs,  and  therefore  could 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  25Y 

make  no  will  exclusive  of  what  was  called  their  peculium. 
Whatever  they  acquired  was  their  master's ;  they  could  not 
plead,  nor  be  pleaded  for,  but  were  excluded  from  all  civil 
concerns  whatever.  They  could  not  claim  the  indulgence 
of  absent  reipublicce  causa'  they  were  not  entitled  to  the 
rights  and  considerations  of  matrimony,  and  therefore  had 
no  relief  in  case  of  adultery ;  nor  were  they  proper  objects 
of  cognation  or  affinity,  but  of  quasi-cognation.  They  could 
be  sold,  transferred,  or  pawned  as  goods,  or  personal  estate, 
for  goods  they  were,  and  as  such  they  were  esteemed. 
They  might  be  tortured  or  punished,  at  the  discretion  of 
their  lord,  or  even  be  put  to  death  by  his  authority.  This 
description  is  to  be  taken  as  applicable  to  the  condition  of 
slaves  at  an  early  period  of  the  Roman  history ;  for  before 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  several  important  changes  had 
been  introduced  in  favor  of  the  slaves.  By  the  lex  Cornelia 
de  sicariis,  the  killing  of  a  slave  became  punishable.  (Dig., 
p.  488;  Cooper's  Justinian,  p.  411.)  The  jus  vitce  et  necis 
claimed  by  the  master  was  restrained  by  Claudius,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Caligula.  (Ibid.)  The  emperor  Adrian,  prohibited 
generally-cruel  treatment  toward  slaves,  and  he  banished 
Umbrica,  a  lady  of  quality,  for  five  years,  quod  ex  levissimis 
causis  suas  ancillas  atrosissime  tractasset.  (Cooper's  Jus- 
tinian, p.  412.)  Antonius  Pius  applied  the  lex  Cornelia  de 
sicariis  specifically  to  the  masters  of  slaves,  and  the  same 
law  was  strengthened  by  Severus  and  by  Constantino. 
(Ibid.)  Slaves  might  always  induce  an  investigation  by 
flying  to  the  statutes  of  the  princes.  (See  Stroud,  p.  21.) 
Now,  American  slavery  does  not,  in  its  general  character- 
istics, differ  from  Roman  slavery.  The  Roman  slaves  were 
considered  the  same  as  quadrupedes,  quadrupeds,  or  brutes, 
four-footed  animals.  The  degradation  of  the  slave  corre- 
sponds to,  and  is  the  contrast  of  the  despotic  and  tyrannical 
authority  of  the  master.  The  slave  can  claim  no  right  to 
himself,  to  his  body,  or  to  his  soul.  He  has  no  right  to  the 
22* 


258  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

fruits  of  his  own  labor  or  skill,  as  all  these  belong  to  his 
master.  He  is  compelled  to  use  such  food,  clothing,  and 
shelter  as  his  master  may  see  fit  to  give  him.  He  may 
be  bought,  sold,  or  bartered  like  goods  and  cattle.  He 
may  be  beaten,  scourged,  branded,  or  even  killed,  without 
any  punishment  inflicted  for  these  wrongs.  The  child-slave, 
as  soon  as  born,  is  classed  with  the  beasts  of  the  field. 
Over  his  infancy  no  mother  has  a  right  to  watch.  No 
father  may  instruct  or  guide  him.  Let  Jay  complete  this 
picture :  "Torn  from  his  parents  and  sold  in  the  market,  he 
soon  finds  himself  laboring  among  strangers,  under  the 
whip  of  a  driver,  and  his  task  augmenting  with  his  ripening 
strength.  Day  after  day,  and  year  after  year,  is  he  driven 
to  the  cotton  or  sugar  field,  as  the  ox  to  the  furrow.  No 
hope  of  reward  lightens  his  toil.  The  subject  of  insult,  the 
victim  of  brutality,  the  laws  of  his  country  afford  him  no 
redress.  His  wife,  such  only  in  name,  may  at  any  moment 
be  dragged  from  his  side ;  his  children,  heirs  only  of  his 
misery  and  degradation,  are  but  articles  of  merchandise; 
his  mind,  stupefied  by  his  oppressors,  is  wrapped  in  dark- 
ness; his  soul,  no  man  careth  for  it;  his  body,  worn  with 
stripes  and  toil,  is  at  length  committed  to  the  earth,  like  the 
brute  that  perisheth." 

The  slave,  too,  possesses  those  peculiarities  of  bodily 
organization,  which  are  looked  upon  with  deep  disgust,  con- 
tempt, prejudice,  and  aversion.  Their  ignorance,  stupidity, 
filth,  rags,  nakedness — their  servile  air,  low  employments, 
repulsive  food,  wretched  dwellings — their  purchase,  sale, 
and  treatment  as  brutes — all  these  are  so  many  steps  of 
degradation. 

The  slave,  too,  is  destitute  of  learning,  wealth,  office, 
personal  respectability,  influential  friends,  and  all  those 
peculiarities,  habits,  tastes,  and  acquisitions  which  excite 
the  interest  of  others  in  his  behalf.  If  he  have  talents, 
they  are  buried  for  want  of  education  to  develop  them. 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  259 

Add  to  the  foregoing,  that  the  slave  is  robbed  of  all  mo- 
tives to  noble  exertion,  and  can  be  acted  on  only  by  fear. 
So  says  the  slaveholder,  Mr.  Turnbull :  "  The  only  principle 
upon  which  any  authority  over  them  [the  slaves]  can  be 
maintained,  is  fear ;  and  he  who  denies  this  has  little  knowl- 
edge of  them."  The  Kev.  Thomas  S.  Clay,  another  slave- 
holder, says:  "The  fear  of  corporeal  punishment  is  the 
only  motive  peculiar  to  a  system  of  slavery."  The  master 
rules  by  an  undisguised  reign  of  terror.  The  degrading 
whip,  and  branding  iron,  and  chains,  and  stocks,  banishment 
from  country,  and  a  thousand  other  indignities  are  con- 
stantly employed  to  subdue  or  keep  subdued  the  hapless 
slave.  And  those  whose  natural  feelings  will  not  allow 
them  to  use  the  whip  or  stocks,  are  compelled,  by  slavery, 
to  deliver  over  their  unwhipped  refractory  slaves  to  the 
cruel  trader,  who  seizes  the  stubborn,  but  now- doomed 
convict,  and,  in  chains,  transfers  him  to  the  sugar  or  cotton 
plantations,  where  the  last  spark  of  liberty  is  extinguished 
forever  in  his  bosom. 

If  it  be  said  that  many  benevolent  and  pious  slave- 
holders do  much  to  elevate  their  slaves,  by  a  treatment 
which  counteracts  the  power  of  slave  laws — to  this  we 
reply,  that  this  is  readily  admitted ;  and  right  gladly  do  we 
acknowledge  and  record  these  acts  of  justice.  But  this  is 
done,  however,  as  no  part  of  slavery,  but  in  spite  of  it; 
and  these  pious  endeavors  and  acts,  to  which  slavery  gives 
no  countenance,  are  so  many  witnesses  which  testify  so 
strongly  against  the  system,  that  a  conscience  but  partially 
awake  can  never  be  at  ease  in  treating  human  beings  as 
slavery  would  treat  them. 

Now,  this  degradation  of  human  beings  is  expressly  for- 
bidden in  Scripture :  "  If  thou  canst  be  free,  use  it  rather. 
Be  ye  not  the  servants  of  men.  Ye  are  bought  with  a 
price."  The  original  dignity  of  man  is  at  variance  with  the 
degradation  of  slavery.  This  degradation  is  condemned  in 


260  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

the  bondage  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  as  appears  from  the 
various  declarations  concerning  their  bondage. 

(3.)  The  Scripture  calls  slavery  oppression,  and  condemns 
it  under  the  name  of  sinful. 

Slavery,  in  Scripture,  is  called  oppression:  "And  the 
Egyptians  made  the  children  of  Israel  serve  with  rigor. 
And  they  made  their  lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage,  in 
mortar  and  in  brick,  and  in  all  manner  of  service  in  the 
field;  all  the  service  wherein  they  made  them  serve  was 
with  rigor,"  Ex.  i,  13,  14.  "I  have  also  seen  the  oppres- 
sion wherewith  the  Egyptians  oppress  them,"  Ex.  iii,  9. 
That  the  Scriptures  call  slavery  oppression,  is  also  evident 
from  Isaiah  Iviii,  6  :  "Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen ? 
to  loose  the  bands  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  bur- 
dens, and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye  break 
every  yoke  ?" 

The  treatment  which  the  Hebrews  received  from  the 
Egyptians,  though  far  less  oppressive  than  that  which  our 
slaves  receive,  was,  nevertheless,  of  the  same  nature  which 
slaves  every-where  receive.  (See  Ex.  i,  11—14;  -ii,  23,  and 
v,  7-10.)  The  Egyptians  reduced  the  Israelites  to  slavery  in 
two  respects.  First,  they  compelled  the  males  to  involun- 
tary service;  and,  secondly,  they  gave  them  no  compen- 
sation. In  these  two  particulars,  Egyptian  and  American 
slavery  are  the  same.  In  other  respects,  our  slavery  is 
much  worse  than  theirs.  Among  them  the  males  only  were 
enslaved ;  and  they  were  not  bought  and  sold,  and  separa- 
ted from  their  families,  as  is  the  case  with  us.  Our  slavery 
is  much  more  oppressive  than  that  of  Egypt. 

Oppression  is  an  essential  part  of  slavery,  and  is  embodied 
in  all  the  laws  that  sustain  it.  Indeed,  the  slave  laws,  and 
the  practice  under  them,  form  a  complete  legalized  system 
of  oppression ;  and  they  could  not  well  be  more  oppressive, 
were  the  laws  enacted  for  the  express  purpose  of  establish- 
ing oppression.  As  a  proof  of  this,  let  all  that  is  oppressive 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  261 

in  the  slave  laws  be  removed,  and  slavery  wouia  have 
no  existence.  It  could  not  live  a  day,  if  the  element  of 
oppression  were  separated  from  it. 

Now,  oppression  is  denounced  and  punished  as  a  sin: 
"And  when  we  cried  unto  the  Lord  God  of  our  fathers, 
the  Lord  heard  our  voice,  and  looked  on  our  affliction,  and 
our  labor,  and  our  oppression,"  Deut.  xxvi,  7.  "For  the 
oppression  of  the  poor,  for  the  sighing  of  the  needy,  now 
will  I  rise,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  will  set  him  in  safety  from 
him  that  puffeth  at  him,"  or  "that  would  insnare  him," 
Ps.  xii,  5.  "He  shall  judge  the  poor  of  the  people,  he 
shall  save  the  children  of  the  needy,  and  shall  break  in 
pieces  the  oppressor,"  Ps.  Ixxii,  4.  "  If  thou  seest  the 
oppression  of  the  poor,  and  violent  perverting  of  judgment 
and  justice  in  a  province,  marvel  not  at  the  matter;  for  He 
that  is  higher  than  the  highest  regardeth ;  and  there  be 
higher  than  they,"  Ecc.  v,  8.  From  these  and  a  multitude 
of  texts  of  Scripture,  it  is  plain  that  slavery  is  a  system  of 
grievous  oppression,  which  is  declared  to  be  a  great  sin,  and 
punished  as  such  with  the  most  signal  punishment.  God 
punished  it  with  ten  plagues  of  Egypt,  among  which  was 
the  destruction  of  the  first-born,  and,  in  the  end,  with  the 
destruction  of  their  king  and  army.  In  short,  oppression 
has  been  punished  with  all  manner  of  judicial  severities, 
even  with  slaughter  and  death.  Hence,  the  Scripture  for- 
bids slavery  as  it  exists  among  us,  as  often  and  as  severely 
as  it  forbids  oppression. 

(4.)  Slavery  is  sinful,  because  it  deprives  of  just  and 
righteous  wages. 

The  right  of  laborers  to  wages  is  constantly  enjoined  hi 
the  holy  Scriptures.  A  fair  equivalent  or  compensation  to 
the  laborer  for  his  services,  is  most  clearly  enjoined,  as  the 
following  texts  will  show ;  and  these  are  only  mere  speci- 
mens of  the  language  of  Scripture  on  the  subject:  "Woe 
unto  him  that  buildeth  his  house  by  unrighteousness,  and 


262  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

his  chambers  by  wrong;  that  useth  his  neighbor's  service 
without  wages,  and  giveth  him  naught  for  his  work,"  Jer. 
ixxii.  13.  "The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,"  Luke  x,  7. 
"The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  reward,"  1  Timothy  v,  18. 
"Masters,  give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just  and 
equal,"  Col.  iv,  1. 

In  these  passages  an  equivalent  for  the  labor  rendered  is 
most  expressly  enjoined.  But  slavery  violates  this  great 
moral  precept.  It  deprives  the  slave  of  himself  in  the 
outset,  and  then  deprives  him  of  all  the  fruits  of  his  labor. 
The  slave  does  not  receive  for  his  labor  the  same  compensa- 
tion that  a  freeman  does.  The  coarse  raiment,  the  hard 
fare,  the  rude  cottages,  the  scanty  furniture,  the  partial 
medical  attendance,  and  scanty  provision  for  old  age,  form 
no  proper  equivalent  for  the  services  of  the  slave.  The 
leading  element  of  slavery  is  to  exact  from  the  slave  more 
than  he  receives.  Were"  it  not  for  its  real  or  supposed 
profit,  in  contributing  to  the  pleasure,  comfort,  riches,  or 
dignity  of  the  master  something  beyond  what  slaves  receive, 
slavery  would  soon  come  to  an  end. 

The  Bible,  therefore,  which  demands  that  the  laborer 
shall  receive  just  compensation,  condemns  slavery,  in  con- 
demning the  withholding  of  just  and  equal  wages.  If  to 
defraud  a  hired  servant  of  one  day's  wages  be  a  sin,  to 
compel  a  man  to  labor  during  life,  and  give  no  wages,  is  a 
much  greater  sin.  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the 
judgments  denounced  against  those  who  defraud  the  la- 
borer: "Behold  the  hire  of  the  laborers  who  have  reaped 
down  your  fields,  which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud, 
crieth ;  and  the  cries  of  them  that  have  reaped  are  entered 
into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth,"  James  v,  4.  This 
denunciation  must  lie  against  slaveholders ;  because  the  hire 
is  by  fraud  kept  back  from  the  laborer.  Were  the  Scrip- 
tural requirement  of  just  wages  exacted  from  slaveholders, 
they  would  soon  abandon  the  entire  system  as  unprofitable. 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  263 

(5.)  In  condemning  the  capture  of  fugitive  slaves,  the 
Scripture  condemns  slavery. 

The  Scripture,  in  the  following  words,  condemns  the 
capture  of  fugitive  servants  or  slaves:  "Thou  shalt  not 
deliver  unto  his  master  the  servant  which  is  escaped  from 
his  master  unto  thfee :  he  shall  dwell  with  thee,  even  among 
you  in  the  place  which  he  shall  choose  in  one  of  thy  gates, 
where  it  liketh  him  best;  thou  shalt  not  oppress  him,"  Deut. 
xxxiii,  15,  16.  This  law  teaches,  that  the  mere  voluntary 
escape  of  a  servant  from  his  master,  was  deemed  sufficient 
presumptive  evidence  that  he  was  oppressed  in  his  master's 
service,  and  was,  therefore,  entitled  to  his  freedom.  The 
servant  could  not  be  subjected  again  to  servitude  without 
his  consent.  He  might  choose  the  place  in  which  he  should 
dwell.  And  this  fact  shows  that  the  Israelites  were  to 
protect  such  fugitives  even  at  the  expense  of  war.  (Isaiah 
xvi,  3,  4.)  This  law  seems  to  have  reference  to  foreign 
servants,  who  were  oppressed  with  the  cruel  slavery  which 
then  prevailed,  but  which  was  expressly  condemned  by  the 
Mosaic  laws.  Thus  God,  who  hates  and  punishes  all 
tyranny  and  oppression,  interposes  his  authority  to  rescue 
such  persons  from  cruel  masters.  This  law  provides,  that 
if  any  person  of  a  foreign  nation,  held  in  unrighteous  servi- 
tude, or  in  servitude  against  their  will,  fled  to  the  Israelites, 
he  should  be  received  and  protected  as  a  freeman,  and 
neither  returned  to  his  master  nor  oppressed  by  them. 
And  this  law  recognized  the  right  of  all  men  to  liberty,  and 
condemned  all  servitude  of  innocent  persons,  except  that 
which  was  voluntary  on  the  part  of  those  who  rendered 
the  service. 

The  statutes  and  principles  regulating  servitude — not 
slavery — among  the  Hebrews,  provided  to  the  same  extent 
in  behalf  of  Hebrew  servants,  who  were  all  voluntary  serv- 
ants, except  culprits.  We  say  the  Hebrew  laws  did  not 
regulate  slavery,  but,  on  the  contrary,  condemned  it.  He 


264  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

that  stole  a  man,  or  sold  him,  or  if  he  retained  him,  was  con- 
demned to  death.  And  no  innocent  being,  according  to  the 
Mosaic  law,  could  be  sold  by  another,  or  reduced  to  servi- 
tude of  any  kind  contrary  to  his  own  choice.  If,  during  the 
six  years'  service,  or  less,  as  the  case  might  be,  the  master 
of  a  Hebrew  servant  deprived  him  of  an  eye,  a  tooth,  or 
the  like,  he  forfeited  all  right  to  future  service,  so  that  the 
servant  was  to  be  free  for  his  tooth's  sake.  (Ex.  xi,  26,  27.) 
Thus,  in  the  temporary  and  voluntary  servitude  which  was 
allowed  and  sanctioned  by  God,  whenever  the  master 
treated  the  servant  with  cruelty  or  injustice,  such  as  mutila- 
tion or  injury  of  any  member  of  his  body,  the  servant,  by 
statute,  was  freed  from  any  further  service,  and  might,  there- 
fore, assert  his  freedom  as  his  right. 

The  foreigner  who  was  oppressed  with  grievous  servi- 
tude, might  flee  to  the  Israelites,  who,  by  their  law,  were 
bound  to  receive  and  protect  him,  as  appears  from  Deut. 
xxii,  15,  16,  as  well  as  from  Lev.  xix,  33,  34.  According 
to  the  latter  passage,  the  fugitive  or  sojourning  stranger 
should  not  be  vexed  or  oppressed,  but  permitted  "to  dwell 
with  them  as  one  born  among  them."  The  Israelites  were 
instructed  "  to  love  such  as  themselves,"  while  at  the  same 
time  they  were  reminded  of  their  own  oppressive  servitude 
in  Egypt,  as  a  reason  why  they  should  love,  and  therefore 
treat  kindly,  every  oppressed  person. 

Now,  the  slave  laws  respecting  fugitive  slaves,  and  the 
practice  under  these  laws,  are  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
laws  and  principles  of  the  law  of  Moses,  and,  indeed,  of  the 
whole  revealed  will  of  God.  While  the  laws  of  Moses 
rescued  a  Hebrew  from  service  for  maltreatment,  and  re- 
ceived and  protected  oppressed  foreigners  who  fled  to  them, 
the  slave  laws  and  the  practice  under  them  do  just  the 
opposite.  The  oppressed  slave  can  not  be  released  from 
his  service,  for  maltreatment  where  he  resides;  and  if  he 
attempts  to  fly  from  oppression,  he  is  pursued  as  a  murderer 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  265 

or  notable  culprit,  and  has  little  or  no  protection  wherever 
he  may  fly  to.  No  crime  in  a  slave  is  so  great,  in  the  view 
of  a  slaveholder,  as  that  of  running  away  from  his  master, 
though  to  avoid  the  greatest  possible  oppression.  We  are 
commanded  in  Scripture,  to  love  and  assist  our  fellow-men 
when  they  are  oppressed;  yet,  whoever  assists  a  slave  to 
escape  from  the  cruel  bondage  of  slavery,  is  pronounced  by 
slave  laws  and  slaveholders  as  guilty  of  the  greatest  crime. 
If  the  slave,  however  oppressed  with  poor  and  scanty 
food,  with  inadequate  clothing  and  shelter,  with  stripes  and 
mutilation,  or  the  like,  attempts  to  escape  to  a  land  of 
freedom,  he  is  at  once  denounced  as  an  outlaw.  If  sus- 
pected of  having  an  intention  to  escape,  he  is  watched  with 
sleepless  vigilance.  If  he  makes  the  attempt  to  flee,  he  is 
pursued  by  day  and  by  night.  Blood-hounds  are  or  may 
be  set  on  his  track.  Deadly  weapons  are  used  to  mutilate 
him,  if  he  can  not  otherwise  be  taken.  He  is  shot  down  as 
the  common  enemy  of  his  race,  if  he  can  not  otherwise  be 
taken.  Experienced  and  professional  hireling  man-hunters 
are  dispatched  after  the  fugitive  from  oppression,  and  he  is 
taken  by  stratagem  if  possible.  The  entire  newspaper  press 
is  hired  to  advertise  the  fugitive,  and  his  description  to  the 
life  is  publicly  announced  every-where.  High  rewards  are 
publicly  offered  for  his  detection  or  delivery.  When  seized 
by  force  or  by  fraud,  he  is  dragged,  in  chains  and  gagged, 
to  the  dominion  of  his  master.  He  is  made  an  example  to 
the  other  slaves,  often  at  the  expense  of  his  life,  but  mostly 
at  least  by  mutilation  and  scars.  The  whip  and  the  stocks, 
cropping,  branding,  the  collar,  and  a  thousand  other  instru- 
ments and  methods  of  torture  are  employed,  to  complete 
the  terrible  example  of  punishment  for  the  capital  offense 
of  running  away  from  cruel  oppression.  Or,  perhaps,  the 
unmanageable  retaken  refugee,  after  enduring  such  correc- 
tion as  is  deemed  necessary,  is  now  to  be  transported  for 
life,  and  sold  for  the  cotton  field  or  sugar  plantations,  or 
23 


266  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

doomed  to  waste  life  in  the  rice  swamps.  But  who  can 
draw  the  picture  of  these  enormities!  We  can  not  do  it. 
No  one  can  do  it.  Who,  by  pen  and  ink,  can  portray  the 
bloodthirsty  hounds  let  loose  on  the  innocent  victim — the 
cruel  master  and  overseer,  and  collected  neighbors,  with  all 
deadly  weapons  shouldered,  in  hot  pursuit — the  negro- 
catcher  in  speed  to  win  the  prize,  the  hire  of  his  damning 
labor — and  then  the  bribed  squire,  and  constable,  and  man- 
catcher  in  the  free  states  on  the  scent  of  the  fugitive — the 
common  jails  converted  into  slave  barracoons?  All  these 
and  a  thousand  more  baffle  description,  and  we  must  not 
attempt  the  fruitless  endeavor. 

If  the  northern  states  were  really  free,  the  slaves  would 
soon  escape  into  them,  and  slavery  would  soon  become 
extinct  by  emigration.  Is  there  liberty  for  the  slave,  at 
present,  in  any  part  of  the  United  States  ?  Certainly  not. 
When  he  steps  on  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  or  Iowa,  he  is  still  a  slave.  The  man-stealer  still 
pursues  him,  and  is  aided  in  his  work  by  the  citizen  and 
the  laws  of  the  free  states,  so  called.  It  is  true,  we  all 
say,  "All  men  are  created  equal,  and  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights:  among  which  are 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  And  God  said, 
"Thou  shalt  not  deliver  to  his  master  the  servant  which 
is  escaped  from  his  master  unto  thee."  But  we  have  cov- 
enanted with  man-stealers,  and  we  can  not  obey  God's  laws. 

The  following  is  from  a  Kentuckian,  who  was  conversant 
with  slavery: 

"In  December  of  1833,  I  landed  at  New  Orleans,  in  the 

steamer  W .  It  was  after  night,  dark  and  rainy.  The 

passengers  were  called  out  of  the  cabin,  from  the  enjoyment 
of  a  fire,  which  the  cold,  damp  atmosphere  rendered  very 
comfortable,  by  a  sudden  shout  of  '  Catch  him — catch  him — 
catch  the  negro/  The  cry  was  answered  by  a  hundred 
voices :  '  Catch  him — kill  him/ 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  267 

"  After  standing  in  the  cold  water  for  an  hour,  the  mis- 
erable being  began  to  fail.  We  observed  him  gradually 
sinking — his  voice  grew  weak  and  tremulous — yet  he  con- 
tinued to  curse!  In  the  midst  of  his  oaths  he  uttered 
broken  sentences.  '  I  didn't  steal  the  meat — I  didn't  steal — 
my  master  lives — master — master  lives  up  the  river — [his 
voice  began  to  gurgle  in  his  throat,  and  he  was  so  chilled 
that  his  teeth  chattered  audibly] — I  didn't — steal — I  didn't 
steal — my — my  master — my — I  want  to  see  my  master — I 
didn't — no — my  mas — you  want — you  want  to  kill  me — I 
didn't  steal  the — '  His  last  words  could  just  be  heard  as 
he  sunk  under  the  water. 

"During  this  indescribable  scene,  not  one  of  the  hundred 
that  stood  around  made  any  effort  to  save  the  man  till 
he  was  apparently  drowned.  He  was  then  dragged  out, 
and  stretched  on  the  bow  of  the  boat,  and  soon  sufficient 
means  were  used  for  his  recovery.  The  brutal  captain 
ordered  him  to  be  taken  off  his  boat — declaring,  with  an 
oath,  that  he  would  throw  him  into  the  river  again,  if  he 
was  not  immediately  removed.  I  withdrew,  sick  and  hor- 
rified with  this  appalling  exhibition  of  wickedness. 

"Upon  inquiry,  I  learned  that  the  colored  man  lived  some 
fifty  miles  up  the  Mississippi;  that  he  had  been  charged 
with  stealing  some  article  from  the  wharf;  was  fired  upon 
with  a  pistol,  and  pursued  by  the  mob. 

"  In  reflecting  upon  this  unmingled  cruelty — this  insensi- 
bility to  suffering  and  disregard  of  life,  I  exclaimed,  'Is 
there  no  flesh  in  man's  obdurate  heart!'  One  poor  man, 
chased  like  a  wolf  by  a  hundred  blood-hounds,  yelling, 
howling,  and  gnashing  their  teeth  upon  him,  plunges  into 
the  cold  river  to  seek  protection !  A  crowd  of  spectators 
witness  the  scene,  with  all  the  composure  with  which  a 
Roman  populace  would  look  upon  a  gladiatorial  show. 
Not  a  voice  heard  in  the  sufferer's  behalf.  At  length  the 
powers  of  nature  give  way — the  blood  flows  back  to  the 


268  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

heart — the  teeth  chatter — the  voice  trembles  and  dies, 
while  the  victim  drops  down  into  his  grave. 

"What  an  atrocious  system  is  that  which  leaves  two 
millions  of  souls,  friendless  and  powerless,  hunted  and 
chased,  afflicted  and  tortured,  and  driven  to  death,  without 
the  means  of  redress !  Yet  such  is  the  system  ef  slavery !" 
(James  A.  Thome.) 

"  Occasionally,  armed  parties  of  whites  go  in  pursuit  of 
them,  who  make  no  secret  of  their  determination  to  shoot 
down  all  that  refuse  to  surrender — which  they  sometimes 
do.  In  one  instance  a  negro,  who  was  closely  pursued, 
instead  of  heeding  the  order  to  surrender,  waded  into  a 
shallow  pond,  beyond  the  reach  of  his  pursuers;  refusing 
still  to  yield,  he  was  shot  through  the  heart  by  one  of  the 
party.  This  occurred  near  Natchez,  but  no  notice  was 
taken  of  it  by  the  civil  authorities ;  but  in  this  they  were 
consistent,  for  the  city  patrols  or  night  watch  are  allowed 
to  do  the  same  thing  with  impunity,  though  it  is  authorized 
by  no  law. 

"Another  mode  of  capturing  runaways  is  by  blood- 
hounds. This  I  hope  is  rarely  done.  An  instance  was 
related  to  me  in  Claiborne  county,  Mississippi.  A  run- 
away was  heard  about  the  house  in  the  night.  The  hound 
was  put  upon  his  track,  and  in  the  morning  was  found 
watching  the  dead  body  of  the  negro.  The  dogs  are 
trained  to  this  service  while  young.  A  negro  is  directed 
to  go  into  the  woods,  and  secure  himself  upon  a  tree. 
When  sufficient  time  has  elapsed  for  doing  this,  the  hound 
is  put  upon  his  track.  The  blacks  also  are  compelled  to 
worry  them  till  they  make  them  their  implacable  enemies : 
and  it  is  common  to  meet  with  dogs,  which  will  take  no 
notice  of  whites,  though  entire  strangers,  but  will  suffer  no 
black  beside  the  house  servants  to  enter  the  yard.  Cap- 
tured runaways  are  confined  in  jail  till  claimed  by  their 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  269 

owners.  If  they  are  not  claimed  within  the  time  prescribed 
by  law,  they  are  sold  at  public  sale,  and  in  the  meantime 
are  employed  as  scavengers,  with  a  heavy  ball  and  chain 
fastened  to  one  of  their  ankles."  (New  York  Evangelist, 
January  31,  1835.) 

In  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  we  have  the 
following  clause,  which  has  been  assumed,  by  subsequent 
acts  of  Congress,  as  the  basis  on  which  were  founded  the 
statutes  to  arrest  fugitive  slaves:  "No  person  held  to 
service  or  labor  in  one  state,  under  the  laws  thereof, 
escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law 
therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall 
be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service 
or  labor  may  be  due."  (Art.  iv,  sec.  ii,  clause  3.) 

Claiming  authority  from  this  clause  of  the  Constitution, 
an  act  of  Congress  was  passed  February  12,  1793,  and  is 
as  follows:  "When  a  person  held  to  labor  in  any  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  either  of  the  territories  on  the  north- 
west or  south  of  the  river  Ohio,  under  the  laws  thereof, 
shall  escape  into  any  other  of  the  said  states  or  territories, 
the  person  to  whom  such  labor  or  service  may  be  due,  his 
agent,  or  attorney,  is  hereby  empowered  to  seize  or  arrest 
such  fugitive  from  labor,  and  to  take  him  or  her  before  any 
judge  of  the  circuit  or  district  courts  of  the  United  States, 
residing  or  being  within  the  state,  or  before  any  magistrate 
of  a  county,  city,  or  town  corporate,  wherein  such  seizure 
or  arrest  shall  be  made ;  and  upon  proof  to  the  satisfaction 
of  such  judge  or  magistrate,  either  by  oral  testimony  or 
affidavit  taken  before  and  certified  by  a  magistrate  of  any 
such  state  or  territory,  that  the  person  so  seized  or  arrested 
doth,  under  the  laws  of  the  state  or  territory  from  which 
he  or  she  fled,  owe  service  or  labor  to  the  person  claiming 
him  or  her,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  judge  or  magistrate 
to  give  a  certificate  thereof  to  such  claimant,  his  agent,  or 
23* 


270  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  ' 

attorney,  which  shall  be  sufficient  warrant  for  removing  the 
said  fugitive  from  labor  to  the  state  or  territory  from  which 
he  or  she  fled."  „ 

For  many  years  Pennsylvania  has  been  the  forum  of  most 
of  the  decisions  respecting  fugitive  slaves.  The  records, 
however,  are  but  few,  as  most  of  the  cases  have  occurred 
before  justices  of  the  peace,  who  have  been  generally  the 
bribed  allies  of  the  slaveholders,  as  has  been  the  case  in 
most  of  the  free  states  bordering  on  the  slave  states.  Judge 
Washington  decided  that  the  clause  in  the  Constitution  "  did 
not  extend  to  the  case  of  a  slave  voluntarily  carried  by  his 
master  into  another  state,  and  there  leaving  him  under  the 
protection  of  some  law  declaring  him  free."  The  same 
judge  also  declared,  "  that  the  act  of  Congress  applied 
exclusively  to  fugitive  slaves,  and  not  to  those  whom  their 
masters  themselves  brought  from  one  state  to  another." 
(See  Stroud,  pp.  166,  167.) 

In  1826  the  law  of  Pennsylvania  was  made  more  strin- 
gent, so  that  magistrates  were  not  allowed  to  decide  in 
cases  of  fugitives,  but  they  were  brought  before  the  judges. 
But,  as  the  certificate  of  the  judge  is  to  be  regarded  as 
conclusive  evidence  that  the  claimant  may  remove  his 
captive  to  a  land  where  his  color  is  his  condemnation,  even 
in  Pennsylvania  great  injustice  to  colored  persons  may  be 
perpetrated  with  impunity.  But  in  those  states  where 
justices  are  the  arbiters  of  law  and  of  fact,  man-stealing 
may  be  prosecuted  under  the  cover  of  law.  Indeed,  thou- 
sands of  free  persons  have  been  enslaved,  under  the  pretext 
that  they  were  fugitives  from  service  or  labor. 

No  one  who  examines  the  subject  can  avoid  perceiving 
that  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  slave  states, 
and  some  of  the  free  states,  are  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
Mosaic  code,  in  regard  to  those  who  escape  from  slavery. 
When  the  Hebrew  was  maltreated,  his  obligation  as  a 
servant  ceased ;  although  no  Hebrew  was  allowed  to  be  a 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  271 

slave,  according  to  the  law  of  Moses,  or  the  principles  of 
the  Bible.  When  an  alien,  or  stranger,  or  one  not  of  the 
Hebrew  nation,  among  whom  slavery,  properly  so  called, 
prevailed,  fled  to  the  Hebrews,  he  was  to  be  received, 
treated,  and  protected  as  a  freeman,  at  any  risk.  The 
reason  was,  that  because  slavery — that  is,  involuntary  and 
hereditary  service — was  essentially  and  unavoidably  sinful, 
no  slavery  could  be  allowed  where  the  law  of  God  gov- 
erned; and  therefore  it  could  not  be  tolerated  among  the 
Hebrews.  Had  real  slavery  existed  in  the  Hebrew  nation, 
by  virtue  of  the  Mosaic  code,  its  practical  effects  would 
have  been  similar  to  those  in  our  slave  states,  and  in  all 
other  slave  countries.  But  as  long,  and  so  far,  as  the 
Israelites  observed  their  laws  on  servitude,  the  common 
atrocities  and  cruelties  of  slavery  had  no  being.  It  was 
only  when  they  violated  their  laws,  that  they  practiced 
human  oppression ;  for  while  God  sanctioned  and  regulated 
several  mild  kinds  of  servitude  among  the  Hebrews,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor  servants  themselves,  he  most  effectually 
prohibited  every  thing  like  slavery  of  any  kind.  He  that 
stole,  or  sold,  or  retained  a  stolen  man,  was  to  be  punished 
with  death.  (Exodus  xxi.)  And  as  these  are  the  three 
principal  modes  of  enslavement — all  others  being  reducible 
to  these — and  these  were  forbidden,  slavery  was  expressly 
prohibited,  under  pain  of  death,  to  every  individual  of  the 
Hebrew  nation.  Poor  persons  might  sell  themselves  for  a 
time;  but  no  Hebrew  could  sell  another  human  being. 
Were  the  principles  and  statutes  of  the  Mosaic  code  intro- 
duced into  the  slave  states,  slavery  could  not  live  more  than 
six  years,  or  fifty  at  most,  in  their  midst.  Nay,  were  the 
regulations  of  the  Mosaic  code  only  in  regard  to  the  recep- 
tion of  fugitive  slaves,  and  the  emancipation  of  Hebrews 
when  maltreated,  applied  to  the  regulation  of  southern 
slavery,  it  could  not  exist  any  length  of  tune  under  such 
regulations. 


272  CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS. 

There  is  such  an  amount  of  positive  wickedness  and 
inhuman  cruelty  found  in  this  single  character  of  slavery, 
in  regard  to  fugitive  slaves,  that  no  pen  can  describe  them. 
Many  well-disposed  persons  in  the  free  states,  because  the 
laws  supported  this  barbarous  conduct,  have  silently  over- 
looked the  enormities.  But  the  progress  of  the  bold  and 
daring  effrontery  of  slave-catchers,  and  manifest  kidnappers, 
has  become  so  glaring  and  intolerable,  that  the  general 
sentiments  of  our  best  men  are  directed  to  observe  the  clear 
sovereignty  of  the  Mosaic  code  over  the  oppressive  laws  of 
Congress  and  the  slave  states.  To  legalize  crime,  and 
throw  around  it  the  sanction  of  statutory  enactments,  is  more 
wicked  than  to  perpetrate  it  after  it  has  been  made  lawful. 
Thus,  the  members  of  a  legislature  who  would  enact  a  law 
authorizing  theft  and  murder,  would  be  more  guilty  than 
actual  thieves  and  murderers.  The  former  justify  crime, 
and  thus  blot  out  all  distinction  between  right  and  wrong ; 
the  latter  merely  commit  the  crime,  when  legalized,  but 
attempt  no  justification  of  the  offense. 

It  has  been  said,  as  well  it  may,  that  "there  are  many 
benevolent  slaveholders  who  would  by  no  means  pursue,  as 
is  commonly  done,  their  fugitive  slaves."  This  is  admitted. 
But  then  their  conduct  is  properly  a  protest  against  the 
sinfulness  of  slavery;  for  this  same  capture  of  runaways  is 
a  part,  and  an  essential  part,  of  the  system ;  and  therefore 
their  conduct  is  a  practical  acknowledgment  of  the  sinfulness 
of  slavery. 

We  might  here  bring  under  discussion  several  express 
prohibitions— such  as  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill ;"  "  Thou  shalt 
not  steal " — which  slavery  directly  and  grossly  violates ;  but 
we  will  consider  these  under  the  discussion  on  the  ten  com- 
mandments, of  which  they  form  a  part. 

(6.)  Many  examples  could  here  be  given  in  reference  to 
fugitive  slaves  which  would  show,  to  the  life,  what  slavery 
is.  In  this  work  we  have  occasionally  quoted  instances  of 


CONTRARY  TO  SCRIPTURE  PROHIBITIONS.  2*73 

the  practical  workings  of  the  system.  Here  we  have  not 
room  to  enlarge.  We  will  content  ourselves  with  a  mere 
outline  of  the  steps  of  treating  runaways,  which  could  be 
confirmed  by  hundreds  or  even  thousands  of  examples 
under  all  or  most  of  the  items. 

First.  The  vigilant  caution  observed  to  prevent  running 
away. 

Second.  The  pursuit  of  fugitives. 

Third.  The  blood-hounds,  or  other  dogs,  employed  to 
find  them. 

The  profession  of  hunting  men  with  dogs  seems  to  be 
still  a  business  worth  pursuing,  as  appears  from  the  follow- 
ing advertisement,  in  the  Sumner  County  (Ala.)  Whig : 

"Negro  Dogs. — The  undersigned  having  bought  the  entire 
pack  of  negro  dogs — of  the  Hay  and  Allen  stock — he  now 
proposes  to  catch  runaway  negroes.  His  charge  will  be  $3 
per  day  for  hunting,  and  $15  for  catching  a  runaway.  He 
resides  three  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Livingston,  near  the 
lower  Jones'  Bluff  road.  WILLIAM  GAMBEL. 

"Nov.  6,  1845. — 6m." 

Fourth.  The  deadly  weapons  used  to  kill  or  mutilate 
them  when  necessary. 

Fifth.  The  professional  men-hunters. 

Sixth.  Advertisements  in  the  public  papers. 

Seventh.  The  fugitive  dragged  back  hi  chains. 

Eighth.  Whipped  or  tortured  on  return. 

The  world  —  whether  antediluvian,  heathen,  Moham- 
medan, or  popish — never  yet  furnished  greater  examples  of 
sinful,  wicked  conduct,  than  is  practiced  continually  under 
the  foregoing  heads ;  and  the  limits  of  our  volumes  alone 
prevent  their  insertion.  We  must  refer  our  readers,  how- 
ever, to  the  various  publications  which  have  made  collec- 
tions from  the  published  accounts  of  the  slaveholders 
themselves,  who,  in  this  matter,  have,  without  designing  it, 
proclaimed  to  the  world  their  own  sin  and  shame. 


274  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

SLAVERY  is  contrary  to  many  plain  Scriptural  injunctions 
or  commands ;  or,  in  other  words,  there  are  duties  enjoined 
in  Scripture  which  can  not  be  performed,  except  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  laws  which  establish  slavery,  and  the 
practice  under  these  laws.  And,  as  the  violation  of  these 
commands  is  sinful,  the  system  of  slavery,  which  demands 
the  violation  of  Scriptural  command,  and  therefore  prohibits 
the  performance  of  Christian  duties,  must  be  chargeable 
with  the  sin. 

We  furnish  the  following  plain  Scriptural  command, 
which  slavery  violates,  by  preventing  the  performance  of 
the  duties  enjoined  in  these  commands  or  injunctions. 

1.  Slavery  is  contrary  to  justice,  or  righteousness. 

Justice  is,  "suum  cuique  attribuens,"  "giving  to  every  one 
his  own."  Justice  and  righteousness  are  one  and  the  same. 
Justice  is  an  eternal  and  immutable  principle,  emanating 
from  the  perfections  of  God.  It  is  a  principle  of  right,  in 
opposition  to  wrong.  On  this  ground  Abraham  made  an 
appeal  to  God  himself,  who  sustains  the  appeal  to  this 
general  principle  of  right.  "  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right?"  Genesis,  xviii,  25.  It  is  not  a  conven- 
tional agreement,  usage,  or  custom.  Justice  and  injustice 
are  not  the  same,  but,  like  virtue  and  vice,  the  one  is 
opposed  to  the  other. 

Now,  slavery  is  a  violation  of  the  principles  of  right,  or 
justice.  Slavery  does  not  "give  to  each  his  own."  It 
deprives  a  man  of  his  labor,  or,  rather,  it  robs  him  of  him- 
self, his  body,  and  his  soul.  The  Africans,  as  well  as 
others,  sprung  from  one  common  father,  and  were  all  alike 
free.  They  were  not  enslaved  for  crime.  They  were  either 
stolen  or  taken  violently,  and  were  therefore  enslaved  by 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  275 

theft  or  forcible  robbery.  And  what  commenced  by  theft 
and  robbery,  is  now  continued  by  robbery  or  violence. 
Every  new  generation  is  now  enslaved  by  a  fresh  act  of 
violence.  As  all  are  born  free,  and  children,  as  soon  as 
born,  are  enslaved,  the  violence  or  robbery,  by  law,  is 
repeated  in  the  case  of  every  child,  whose  mother  is  a  slave. 
Every  child  of  a  slave  mother  is  robbed  at  its  birth,  by  an 
overt  act  of  injustice,  considered  by  all  people  as  the  greatest 
wrong  that  could  be  inflicted. 

2.  Slavery  is  contrary  to  the  great  law  of  love. 

This  law  was  given  to  the  Hebrews  in  the  following 
words:  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself:  I  am 
the  Lord,"  Lev.  xix,  18.  By  neighbor  every  man  is 
meant ;  for  the  same  injunction  is  given  in  regard  to  stran- 
gers, (verse  34.)  And  the  word  neighbor  is  explained  by 
"another  man,"  (Lev.  xx,  10,  and  Romans  xiii,  8.)  And 
this  law  of  love  is  repeated  in  the  New  Testament  by  our 
Lord,  (Matt,  xxii,  39,)  and  most  peremptorily  enjoined  by 
the  apostles.  "Chanty  [or  love]  is  kind,"  1  Cor.  xiii,  4. 
"Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor."  The  law  of  love 
certainly,  therefore,  requires  three  things. 

The  law  of  love  requires  us  to  act  justly  toward  all 
men.  Hence,  it  requires  masters  to  render  to  their  serv- 
ants a  just  equivalent  for  their  services.  But  slavery 
refuses  to  do  this ;  and  justice  demands,  that  the  servants 
shall  be  the  disposers  of  their  services,  by  an  agreed  price. 
But  slavery  knows  nothing  of  this  Scriptural  mode  of  re- 
quiting ;  for  its  code  fixes  on  the  person  who  must  serve, 
and  the  amount  of  service  to  be  rendered,  and  demands  no 
equivalent,  but,  on  the  contrary,  refuses  it,  or  leaves  it  op- 
tional Avith  the  master  to  do  as  he  pleases. 

This  law  of  love  is  kind.  It  teaches  to  do  good  to  all. 
If  we  love  our  neighbor,  we  will  endeavor  to  promote  his 
happiness  and  do  him  good.  It  certainly  can  not  be  doing 
him  good  to  seize  on  him,  and  his  property,  and  his  family, 


2Y6  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

and  appropriate  all  to  ourselves.  But  it  is  useless  to  speak 
of  slavery  as  a  system  of  good  to  the  slaves.  This  Was 
never  pretended  as  the  cause  why  they  were  brought  from 
Africa ;  nor  is  it  the  plea  held  forth  in  the  slave  laws.  Nor 
is  the  good  of  the  slaves,  in  any  degree,  the  object  in  view 
by  the  slave  system.  Slavery  aims  at  the  good,  the  profit, 
the  benefit  of  the  master,  and  at  nothing  else;  for  the 
recent  plea  of  slaveholders,  when  pressed  by  argument,  of 
keeping  slaves  for  their  good,  is  nothing  more  than  an  insult- 
ing aggravation  of  the  known  and  undeniable  sinfulness  of 
slavery.  It  is  preposterous  to  suppose  that  it  is  doing  good 
to  human  beings  to  treat  them  as  slaves,  when  this  treat- 
ment is  an  organized  system  of  wrong  and  injury,  from 
beginning  to  end.  If  we  love  our  neighbor,  we  shall  feel 
an  interest  in  promoting  his  happiness.  If  we  love  him  in 
a  great  degree,  we  shall  feel  a  proportionate  interest  in  pro- 
moting his  happiness.  If  we  love  him  as  ourselves,  we 
shall  take  the  same  delight  in  his  happiness  that  we  do  in 
our  own.  Our  love  to  our  children  leads  us  to  accord  to 
them  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  men,  when  they  arrive 
at  a  proper  age.  If  we  love  the  children  of  others  as  we 
ought,  we  will  accord  them  all  the  privileges  of  men, 
when  they  arrive  at  maturity.  True  love  to  them  would 
never  enslave  them  from  their  birth,  or  refuse  them  full 
liberty  when  they  are  of  full  growth,  or  treat  them  as 
slaves  are  treated  from  birth  to  maturity,  without  education, 
or  the  common  privileges  of  minors  or  apprentices. 

The  law  of  love  prohibits  every  species  of  ill  to  our 
neighbor.  Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor.  That 
slavery  is  a  positive  injury  to  his  neighbor  can  not  be  denied  ; 
and  therefore  it  must  be  opposed  to  the  law  of  love.  And 
what  is  slavery  but  a  series  of  injuries  to  the  slave  from  his 
birth  to  his  grave  ?  As  to  father,  he  is  not  permitted  to  have 
any.  His  mother  is  merely  his-  nurse,  to  rear  him  for  the 
master,  as  the  dam  rears  the  young  for  its  owner.  In 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  277 

tender  youth,  no  lessons  of  moral,  religious,  or  intellectual 
instruction  are  communicated,  other  than  those  necessary  to 
make  him  a  profitable  piece  of  property  to  his  master,  as 
his  laborious  drudge  in  all  after  life.  When  come  to  matu- 
rity, he  is  then  the  marketable  commodity  of  his  owner,  to 
be  sold,  or  kept  at  hard  labor,  as  the  mere  estimate  of 
dollars  and  cents  will  calculate,  and  nothing  else.  If  he 
has  a  wife  at  all,  even  for  a  time,  she  must  be  under  the 
control  of  another,  and  a  separation  may  take  place  any 
moment.  His  children  are  sold  before  his  eyes  to  the 
highest  bidder,  whose  faces  he  will  never  see  again.  If 
superannuated -old  age  renders  him  unfit  for  labor,  then  his 
master,  who  has  been  robbing  him  from  his  birth,  is  to  be 
the  only  arbiter  and  dispenser  of  his  food,  raiment,  and  all 
earthly  supplies. 

If  it  be  said  that  some  keep  slaves  for  their  good,  we 
reply,  that  this  can  not  be  allowed  as  to  the  system  in 
general.  The  system  is  chargeable  with  all  we  bring  against 
it.  And  in  regard  to  particular  cases,  we  reply,  that  to 
treat  them  for  their  good,  well-instructed  love  would  teach 
their  release  from  their  degraded  condition;  because  far 
more  would  be  benefited  than  injured  by  it,  and  the 
benefits  would  be  far  greater  than  the  injuries.  And,  as  one 
individual  can  not  be  held  in  slavery  for  his  real  benefit, 
without  exposing  another,  or  many,  to  be  held  in  slavery  to 
his  injury,  then  Christian  charity  would  dictate  to  keep  none 
in  slavery. 

No  conscientious,  duly-informed  man,  will  consider  him- 
self entitled  to  use  the  services  of  another,  because  he  has 
power  over  them,  without  rendering  to  him  an  equivalent. 
And  there  can  be  no  equivalent,  in  food,  clothing,  comforts, 
or  even  money,  rendered  to  a  man  which  can  be  an  equiva- 
lent to  him  for  his  own  self,  or  his  personal  liberty  and 
ownership  in  himself,  and  his  rightful  ownership  in  his  wife 
and  children.  The  law  of  love  requires  the  master  to 
24 


278  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

regard  the  relation  between  himself  and  his  slaves  as  a  rela- 
tion which  is  in  itself  sinful,  and  therefore  to  be  dissolved 
without  the  least  delay  which  the  case  will  admit. 

3.  What  is  called  "the  golden  rule"  is  in  direct  opposi- 
tion to  slavery.  "  Therefore,  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would 
that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them :  for  this 
is  the  law  and  the  prophets,"  Matt,  vii,  12. 

The  following  is  the  exposition  of  St.  Augustine  on  this 
passage:  "This  is  the  sum  of  the  law  and  the  prophets. 
For  we  are  to  learn  by  this  principle,  Whatsoever  you  desire 
to  be  done  to  you,  do  the  same  to  another;  and  whatsoever  you 
are  unwilling  to  be  done  to  you,  you  should  not  do  to  another. 
You  are  not  willing  that  others  should  deprive  you  of  life, 
your  wife,  your  good  name,  your  wealth,  etc. ;  therefore  do 
not  take  these  from  others,  but  preserve  and  cherish  them." 
(See  Corn,  a  Lapide  in  Matt,  vii,  12.) 

Or  take  the  exposition  of  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  a  distin- 
guished Roman  Catholic  commentator,  who  wrote  in  1685, 
and  who  certainly  gives  an  impartial  view  of  the  text. 
The  sense  is  as  follows;  namely,  "Whatsoever  I  have  here- 
tofore said  concerning  loving  our  neighbor  and  of  giving  of 
alms,  all  these  things  arise  from  this  first  dictate  of  nature ; 
and  the  first  principle  of  moral  philosophy  depends  on  this 
principle  of  equity — that  whatsoever  you  will  to  be  done  to 
you,  do  the  same  to  others;  and  whatsoever  you  are  un- 
willing to  suffer  from  others,  you  should  not  inflict  on 
another."  (A  Lapide  in  Matt,  vii,  12.) 

Take  the  exposition  of  the  sober  Doddridge  on  the  text : 
"Animated  by  the  goodness  of  God,  you  should  study  to 
express  your  gratitude  for  it  by  your  integrity  and  kindness 
to  your  fellow-creatures,  treating  them,  in  every  instance, 
as  you  would  think  it  reasonable  to  be  treated  by  them,  if 
you  were  in  their  circumstances  and  they  in  yours ;  for  this 
is,  in  effect,  a  summary  and  abstract  of  all  the  human  and 
social  virtues  recommended  in  the  moral  precepts  of  the 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  279 

law  and  the  prophets,  and  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  ends 
of  both  to  bring  men  to  this  equitable  and  amiable  temper." 

No  law  of  holy  Scripture  is  of  more  binding  force  than 
this.  It  does  not  allow  one  human  being  to  tyrannize  over 
another.  The  following  observations  will  place  this  in  a 
convincing  light: 

(1.)  No  one  under  the  influence  of  this  rule  ever  made  a 
man  a  slave.  Slavery  could  not  originate  under  the  exer- 
cise of  this  rule.  No  one  would  think  he  is  doing  that 
to  another  which  he  is  willing  to  be  done  to  himself,  in 
violently  dragging  a  human  being  from  Africa,  and  then 
selling  him,  or  even  buying  such  a  man.  Nor  can  he, 
guided  by  this  rule,  seize  the  newly-born  infant,  and  thus 
commence  a  course  of  violence  which  may  last  for  life. 

(2.)  And  as  slavery  could  not  originate  under  the  guid- 
ance of  this  rule,  so  it  could  not  be  continued  under  it. 
This  rule  is  at  variance  with  exacting  unrequited  labor  from 
another,  feeding  him  with  coarse  or  scanty  food,  clothing 
him  poorly,  preventing  him  from  reading  the  Bible,  or  the 
like. 

(3.)  As  no  one  would  willingly  subject  himself  or  his 
children  to  the  operation  of  slave  laws,  he  would  never 
subject  others  to  the  operation  of  these  laws,  if  guided  by 
this  rule. 

(4.)  None,  under  the  fair  operation  of  this  law,  would 
ever  continue  to  hold  others  in  slavery ;  for  no  man  would 
be  willing  to  be  treated  as  a  slave,  and,  therefore,  by  con- 
sidering himself  as  in  the  place  of  the  slave,  he  could  never 
treat  him  as  he  would  be  unwilling  to  be  treated.  No  man 
can  hold  an  innocent  person  in  involuntary  servitude  without 
violating  the  Savior's  law  of  love.  Nothing  could  induce 
the  slaveholder  to  take  the  place  of  his  slaves;  therefore, 
he  does  not  do  to  them  as  he  would  have  them  do  to  him. 
No  man  desires  slavery.  All  men  desire  freedom.  "If 
thou  mayest  be  free,  use  it  rather."  The  desire  of  freedom 


280  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

is  a  lawful  one;  and  as  all  will  choose,  and  by  their  judg- 
ment and  conscience  claim  it  for  themselves,  so  no  one 
can  deprive  others  of  freedom  under  the  influence  of  the 
rule — do  unto  others  as  you  would  they  should  do  unto 
you. 

(5.)  This  great  branch  of  the  law  of  love  establishes  the 
brotherhood  of  the  human  family,  whether  as  individuals  or 
nations.  Slavery  violates  this;  because  it  excludes  the 
slave  from  the  fraternal  sympathies  of  mankind,  by  for- 
bidding to  treat  him  as  a  fellow-man,  a  neighbor,  and 
brother.  Slavery,  at  least  in  its  theoretical  principles,  re- 
gards one  human  being  as  the  mere  tool  of  another.  And 
though  in  practice  it  is  sometimes  more  and  sometimes  less 
inhuman,  it  is  always  a  complete  divestment  of  legal  pro- 
tection in  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
brotherhood  in  the  human  family.  So  long  as  any  one  is 
held  in  slavery,  others  are  prevented  from  discharging 
toward  him  the  offices  of  neighbor  and  friend.  Whatever 
instruction,  sympathy,  relief,  protection,  etc.,  the  slave 
enjoys,  is  through  the  mere  indulgence  of  the  slaveholder. 
This  not  only  deprives  the  slave  of  rights,  but  it  is  a  stand- 
ing prohibition  to  mankind,  forbidding  the  performance  of 
those  duties  to  the  slave  which  are  enjoined  in  the  second 
table  of  the  law.  He  that  would  act  the  neighbor  to  the 
slave  would  expose  himself  to  the  severest  penalties  of  the 
law.  In  the  eye  of  the  divine  law  it  is  a  duty  to  receive 
and  protect  the  fugitive  slave ;  but  in  the  eye  of  the  slave 
laws  it  is  a  crime.  It  is  true,  the  master,  in  some  cases, 
may  allow  the  slave  to  read  the  Bible,  or  others  to  read  it 
for  him ;  and  yet  he  may  not  allow  any  such  rights  to  remain 
to  the  slave.  What  right  has  any  man  to  such  power? 
The  very  possession  of  power  to  punish  as  a  crime  the 
duties  and  charities  of  life,  is  a  restriction  on  the  liberty  of 
others  to  treat  that  slave  as  a  man  and  a  neighbor.  No 
master  allows  the  free  discharge  of  the  duties  of 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  281 

brotherhood ;  and,  indeed,  no  one  can  allow  it  without 
ceasing  to  be  a  slaveholder. 

(6.)  The  force  of  this  law  of  human  brotherhood  is 
evaded  by  the  false  sentiment,  that  length  of  possession  is 
considered  by  the  laws  as  conferring  right.  But  as  a  human 
being  can  not,  without  the  greatest  injustice,  be  seized  as 
property,  he  can  not,  without  equal  wrong,  be  held  and 
used  as  such.  The  wrong,  in  the  first  seizure,  consists  in 
the  deprivation  of  rights  and  infliction  of  wrongs.  The 
duration  of  these  wrongs,  and  even  the  increase  of  them 
by  continuance,  only  aggravates  the  evil. 

It  is  true  that  the  length  of  possession,  in  some  cases, 
may  give  a  right  where  the  goods  were  acquired  by  unlaw- 
ful means.  This  may  be  the  case  in  two  respects :  First, 
when  the  goods  were  such  as  could  lawfully  be  applied  to 
individual  use.  Now,  a  man  can  not  be  held  thus  as  prop- 
erty. The  African  on  his  own  shore  is  a  man,  who  by 
nature  has  a  right  to  be  free.  The  same  right  he  has  here 
and  elsewhere.  All  men  who  are  slaves  are  stolen  property, 
and  the  use  of  them  as  property  is  wrong,  and  can  never  be 
right.  Secondly,  the  difficulty  of  determining  who  is  the 
original  owner,  and  of  unsettling  all  property,  may  sanction 
the  mere  possessor  of  lawful  property  to  hold  it.  But  this 
can  not  be  the  case  in  slavery ;  the  proprietor  of  man  can 
not  be  rendered  doubtful  by  lapse  of  time ;  the  true  owner 
of  every  human  being  is  himself.  No  brand  on  the  slave 
was  ever  so  conspicuous  as  that  mark  which  God  has  set 
on  every  man.  Every  man  owns  himself,  and  none  other 
does  own  him  except  by  gross  wrong  and  injustice.  Hence, 
no  right  accrues  to  the  master  from  the  length  of  the  wrong 
which  has  been  done  to  the  slave. 

(7.)  It  may  be  asked  here,  is  it  lawful  for  a  slave  to 

desire  the  master  who  has  purchased  him,  to  liberate  him 

by  undergoing   the   loss  of  the   purchase   money?     We 

answer  that  this  is  a  lawful  desire;  because  none  have  a 

24* 


282  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

right  to  sell  a  man  as  a  slave  who  has  never  forfeited  his 
liberty,  and,  therefore,  no  one  has  a  right  to  purchase  him ; 
and  if  a  man  has  no  right  to  purchase  another,  he  has  no 
right  to  hold  him  when  purchased.  It  is  easier  for  a  man 
to  endure  the  loss  of  a  few  hundred  dollars,  than  it  is  for 
another  to  endure  a  whole  life  of  bondage.  Hence,  when 
a  man  willingly  holds  another  in  bondage,  merely  because 
he  has  paid  a  certain  price  for  him,  he  shows  plainly  that 
he  does  not  love  him  as  he  does  himself.  The  slaveholder 
would  give  all  the  money  he  could  command,  rather  than 
be  a  slave  during  life ;  yet,  for  the  sake  of  money,  he  will 
hold  another  in  slavery  during  life.  How  absurd  is  his 
profession  of  loving  him  as  himself! 

(8.)  And  such,  too,  was  the  law.  The  golden  rule  of 
Jesus  Christ  will  apply  strictly  to  the  servitude  authorized 
and  defined  by  the  law  of  Moses.  This  will  appear  from 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  their  condition: 

1.  Servants  bought  of  the  heathen  were  most  likely  cap- 
tives taken  in  wars,  or  persons  convicted  of  crimes,  or,  more 
likely,  poor  persons  who  sold  themselves,  or  rather  their 
services.  The  Israelites  could  neither  purchase  kidnapped 
or  stolen  persons  nor  retain  them  in  bondage,  according  to 
the  law  of  Moses.  2.  The  heathen  nations  around  the 
Jews  would  not  likely  kidnap  or  sell  their  own  children, 
except  such  as  were  convicted  of  crimes,  or  those  taken  in 
wars.  3.  The  heathen  servants  were  bettered  in  their  con- 
dition by  becoming  the  servants  of  the  Jews,  because  they 
were  admitted  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
as  soon  as  they  were  prepared  for  it ;  and  thus  liberty  was 
finally  secured  to  themselves  and  their  children  forever.  4. 
If  they  did  not  comply  with  the  rite  of  circumcision,  yet 
their  children  were  made  free  by  circumcision,  while  the 
parents  became  free  at  the  jubilee.  5.  Any  bad  treatment 
to  the  servant  from  the  master  secured  his  liberty.  (Ex. 
xii,  20-26;  Lev.  v,  22-26.)  To  prevent  oppression,  the 


SLAVERT  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  283 

servant  who  fled  from  his  master  was  permitted  to  do  so, 
and  was  entitled  to  his  freedom.  (Deut.  xxiii,  15-17.)  All 
bond-servants,  hirelings,  and  sojourners  among  the  Jews 
had  all  the  profits  arising  from  their  lands,  every  seventh 
year.  (Lev.  xxv,  1-7.) 

It  is,  therefore,  plain,  that  although  there  was  servitude 
among  the  Jews,  and  although  they  had  bondmen  and 
bondmaids,  they  had  no  slaves  among  them.  And  all  their 
laws  concerning  the  servitude  allowed,  were  in  accordance 
with  the  law  of  reciprocal  love  and  brotherhood.  But  such 
is  not  American  slavery,  for  the  law  of  reciprocal  love 
would  prevent  its  existence,  and  the  application  of  it  would 
soon  utterly  overturn  it  wherever  it  does  exist. 

(9.)  The  teachings  in  the  prophets,  the  same  in  character 
with  those  of  Moses,  were  also  hostile  to  slavery,  and  that, 
too,  according  to  the  principle  of  our  Savior's  golden  rule 
of  practical  lore.  "  Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ? 
to  loose  the  bands  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens, 
and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye  break  every 
yoke?"  Isa.  Iviii,  6. 

We  furnish  the  following  practical  instance  of  the  work- 
ing of  the  golden  rule.  A  Mrs.  Magruder,  a  lady  of  our 
acquaintance,  who  resides  in  Kentucky,  twelve  miles  above 
Newport,  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Her  husband,  during  his  lifetime,  owned  a  number  of  slaves. 
Most  of  them,  during  her  husband's  life,  were  disposed  of 
to  those  who  took  them  to  the  south.  Mrs.  Magruder  had 
one  young  man  left.  She  was  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  many  years.  In  1845, 
when  the  subject  of  slavery  came  especially  under  consid- 
eration, she  hecame  convinced  of  the  sinfulness  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  her  duty  to  make  reparation  as  far  as  in  her  power. 
The  slaves  formerly  sold  were  now  beyond  her  reach.  She 
accordingly  emancipated  her  young  man,  and  gave  him  fifty 
acres  of  valuable  land.  A  neighbor  of  hers,  who  had 


284  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

joined  the  Church  South,  expostulated  -with  her.  He 
thought  it  strange  that  she  now,  in  her  old  age,  had  changed 
her  course  from  what  it  had  been.  She  replied,  that  if  she 
had  been  doing  wrong  all  her  days  till  then,  it  was  now  full 
time  for  her  to  change  her  course  and  do  better.  He  ob- 
served, that  it  was  no  harm  to  retain  the  negroes  as  slaves, 
as  slavery  was  better  for  them  than  freedom.  To  this  she 
replied  as  follows:  "Brother,  whenever  you  can  believe  it 
to  be  right  that  another  should  handcuff  you  so,  [placing 
her  hands  across  at  the  wrists,]  and  handcuff  your  wife  and 
children,  and  then  sell  you  all  to  separate  masters,  so  that 
you  should  never  see  each  other  again,  but  spend  your  days 
in  slavery — whenever  you  can  truly  say  that  all  this  would 
be  right  in  reference  to  you,  your  wife,  and  children,  then 
tell  me  slavery  is  right,  but  not  before."  This  was  enough. 
Her  neighbor  had  no  answer  which  he  could  give.  And 
Mrs.  Magruder's  argument,  founded  on  our  Savior's  golden 
rule,  will  silence  every  slaveholder.  No  man  ever  met  it, 
and  no  man  ever  will. 

And  the  operation  of  this  rule  on  every  heart  would  be 
the  same  as  it  was  on  Mrs.  Magruder's,  were  it  received  as 
it  ought.  With  thousands  it  has  prevailed,  as  might  be 
shown  from  the  many  tens  of  thousands  of  emigrants  now 
in  the  free  states,  who,  under  the  solemn  convictions  of  the 
wrongs  and  sinfulness  of  slavery,  left  the  regions  of  op- 
pression, and  sought  new  homes  in  states  where  slavery  has 
no  existence.  The  witnesses  on  this  list  may  be  called 
legion,  because  they  are  many. 

4.  Slavery  must  be  criminal,  because  it  supersedes  and 
necessarily  excludes  the  duty  of  showing  mercy  to  the 
poor. 

The  Scripture  makes  it  the  duty  of  all,  according  to  their 
abilities,  to  help  the  poor:  "He  that  hath  mercy  on  the 
poor,  happy  is  he,"  Prov.  xiv,  21.  "He  that  honoreth  his 
Maker  hath  mercy  on  the  poor,"  Prov.  xiv,  31.  "He  that 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCKIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  285 

hath  pity  on  the  poor  lendeth  to  the  Lord,"  Prov.  xix,  17. 

And  this  pity  does  not  consist  of  verbal  expressions  of 
compassion,  but  also  in  acts  of  relief.  (James  ii,  15.) 

But  there  is  no  class  of  persons  so  poor  as  slaves.  And 
they  are  innocently  poor;  for  their  poverty  has  not  been  oc- 
casioned by  their  own  misconduct,  but  by  unjust  laws  and 
arbitrary  powers.  If,  then,  slaveholders  are  justifiable  in 
keeping  their  slaves  in  the  most  abject  poverty  and  bondage, 
they  can  be  under  no  obligation,  by  the  law  of  God,  to  help 
the  less  poor  and  the  less  innocent.  And  if  slaveholders 
are  exempt  from  helping  the  poor  in  their  distress,  all  others 
must  be  equally  exempted ;  for  one  moral  law  equally  binds 
all  men ;  therefore,  if  slavery  be  right,  all  acts  of  charity 
to  the  poor  may  be  neglected. 

Besides,  slaves  are  doubly  poor.  They  are  not  only 
wanting  in  temporal  supplies,  in  common  with  all  other  poor 
persons,  but,  as  slaves,  they  are  additionally  poor  in  intel- 
lectual and  religious  privileges.  The  want  of  mental  cul- 
ture is  the  greatest  of  all  wants,  because  it  affects  the 
eternal  state  of  its  subjects.  Therefore,  to  aid  the  poor 
and  needy  heathen  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  where 
the  greatest  poverty  is  a  want  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ, 
claims  the  attention  of  the  enlightened  and  wealthy  citi- 
zens of  our  country  more  than  the  poor  in  worldly  sub- 
stance. Now,  if  it  be  right  for  slaveholders  to  keep  men 
as  slaves,  and,  therefore,  to  keep  them  in  bondage  and  igno- 
rance, it  can  not  be  their  duty  to  undergo  the  expense 
of  sending  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen.  Consequently,  to 
ask  slaveholders  to  contribute  to  missions  at  all,  is  an  insult 
to  them,  and  a  condemnation  of  their  conduct. 

5.  Slavery  is  opposed  to  the  command,  "  Children,  obey 
your  parents  in  the  Lord :  for  this  is  right.  Honor  thy 
father  and  mother,  which  is  the  first  commandment  with 
promise,"  Eph.  vi,  1,  2.  "Children,  obey  your  parents  in 
all  things ;  for  this  is  well-pleasing  unto  the  Lord,"  Col.  Si,  20. 


286  SLAVEKY  VS.  8CRIPTUKAL  COMMANDS. 

Slavery,  also,  is  opposed  to  the  command  to  parents, 
which  enjoin  on  them  the  duty  of  instructing,  exercising 
discipline  over,  and  controlling  their  own  children:  "And, 
ye  fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath ;  but  bring 
them  up  in  the  nurture  [discipline]  and  admonition  [instruc- 
tion] of  the  Lord,"  Eph.  vi,  4.  "But  if  any  provide  not 
for  his  own,  and  especially  for  those  of  his  own  house, 
[or  kindred,]  he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an 
infidel,"  1  Tim.  v,  8. 

Thus,  children  are  commanded  to  "  obey  their  parents  in 
all  things" — "to  obey  them  in  the  Lord."  And  parents  are 
commanded  to  discipline  and  instruct  their  children,  and  to 
provide  for  them  the  means  of  subsistence. 

Slavery  teaches,  demands,  and,  by  directly  invading  the 
divine  law,  secures,  that  the  child  is  the  property  of  the 
master,  and  that  his  parents  have  no  control  over  him.  The 
master  displaces  the  father  and  mother  from  the  place 
where  God  assigned  them,  and  takes  their  place.  The 
father  of  the  slave  child  has  no  command  of  his  time,  so 
that  he  can  instruct  his  children,  exercise  discipline  over 
them,  or  even  pray  with  them.  He  can  make  no  provision 
for  his  family. 

Slave  children  can  not  obey  their  parents.  Slavery  does 
not  permit  them  to  do  so.  The  master  entirely  controls  the 
children,  and  directs  how  their  time  and  labor  are  to  be 
regulated.  The  children  are  deprived  of  all  interest  in 
their  parents.  They  are  not  permitted  to  obey  their  parents 
during  their  minority,  or  to  assist  them  when  they  arrive  at 
manhood.  The  daughter  has  no  right  to  obey  her  mother, 
nor  assist  her  in  any  thing,  except  as  the  master  may  see 
fit  to  permit. 

As  neither  slave  parents  nor  children  have  any  rights  at 
all,  because  they  are  mere  goods  and  chattels,  it  is  impos- 
sible they  should  obey  the  positive  injunctions  as  heretofore 
quoted.  According  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  slavery, 


1: 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  287 

slave  parents  have  no  rights  or  duties  at  all  over  or  in  rela- 
tion to  their  children ;  nor  have  the  children  any  rights  or 
duties  in  relation  to  their  parents.  Accordingly,  they 
seldom  exercise,  or  attempt  to  exercise,  any  such  rights  or 
duties.  They  are  usually  separated  or  sold  from  each 
other  forever,  as  the  wants  or  wishes  of  the  masters  may 
call  for. 

Let  us  now  see  how  the  practice  is  in  the  system  of 
slavery,  by  presenting  a  few  examples  of  the  actual  work- 
ing of  slavery. 

Here  is  a  man,  a  slave-trader,  driving  before  him  two 
boys  with  a  hickory  stick,  and  carrying  a  child  under  his 
arm.  At  a  little  distance  is  the  MOTHER  with  chains  on  her 
wrists,  stretching  out  her  hands  toward  the  little  babe ;  but 
is  prevented,  because  a  strong  man  holds  her  while  she 
endeavors  to  follow  her  shrieking  babe  and  her  sobbing 
boys.  The  owner,  who  sold  the  two  boys  and  child,  stands 
calmly,  unmoved,  smoking  a  cigar,  while  the  overseer  holds 
the  mother  by  mere  might,  and  the  trader  whips  off  the 
boys  and  carries  with  him  the  screaming  child,  while  the 
agonizing  mother  is  kept  for  her  good  qualities  as  a  breeder. 

A  trader  was  about  to  start  from  Louisville,  Kentucky, 
with  one  hundred  slaves  for  New  Orleans.  Among  them 
were  two  women,  with  infants  at  the  breast.  Knowing 
that  these  infants  would  depreciate  the  value  of  the  mothers, 
the  trader  sold  them  for  one  dollar  each.  Another  mother 
was  separated  from  her  sick  child,  about  four  or  five  years 
old.  Her  anguish  was  so  great  that  she  sickened  and  died 
before  reaching  her  destination. 

Mr.  Birney  gives  the  following  narrative,  which  affords 
only  mere  specimens  of  every-day  occurrences  in  slave  com- 
munities : 

"Not  very  long  ago,  in  Lincoln  county,  Kentucky,  a 
female  slave  was  sold  to  a  southern  slaver,  under  most 
afflicting  circumstances.  She  had  at  her  breast  an  infant 


288  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

boy  three  months  old.  The  slaver  did  not  want  the  child  on 
any  terms.  The  master  sold  the  mother,  and  retained  the 
child.  She  was  hurried  away  immediately  to  the  depot  at 
Louisville,  to  be  sent  down  the  river  to  the  southern  market 
The  last  news  my  informant  had  of  her  was,  that  she  was 
lying  sick,  in  the  most  miserable  condition,  her  breasts 
having  risen,  inflamed,  and  bursted. 

"During  the  winter,  at  Nashville,  a  slaver  was  driving 
his  train  of  fellow-beings  down  to  the  landing,  to  put  them 
on  board  a  steamboat,  bound  for  New  Orleans.  A  mother 
among  them,  having  an  infant  of  about  ten  months  old  to 
carry  in  her  arms,  could  not  keep  pace  with  the  rest.  The 
slaver  waited  till  she  came  up  to  where  he  was  standing; 
he  snatched  it  from  her  arms,  and  handing  it  over  to  a 
person  who  stood  by,  made  him  a  present  of  it.  The 
mother,  bereft  in  a  single  moment  of  her  last  comfort,  was 
driven  on  without  delay  to  the  boat.  '  On  the  side  of  the 
oppressor  was  power ;  but  she  had  no  comforter.' "  (See 
Antislavery  Record,  vol.  i,  pp.  51,  52.) 

In  Marion  county,  Missouri,  a  negro-trader  was,  not  long 
ago,  making  up  a  drove  for  the  Red  river  country.  He, 
purchased  two  little  boys ,  of  a  planter.  They  were  to  be 
taken  away  the  next  day.  How  did  the  mother  of  the 
children  feel !  To  prevent  her  interference,  she  was  chained 
in  an  out-house.  In  the  night  she  contrived  to  get  loose, 
took  an  ax,  proceeded  to  the  place  where  her  [yes,  her] 
boys  slept,  and  severed  their  heads  from  their  bodies !  She 
then  put  an  end  to  her  own  existence.  The  negro-trader 
and  planter  quarreled,  and  went  to  law,  about  the  price! 
(Ibid.,  p.  97.) 

6.  Slavery  is  in  opposition  to  several  express  commands 
of  holy  Scripture,  addressed  to  husbands  and  wives. 

On  this  head  we  quote  the  following  Scriptures:  "The 
Lead  of  the  woman  is  the  man,"  1  Cor.  xi,  3.  "Wives, 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  289 

submit  yourselves  unto  your  own  husbands,  as  unto  the 
Lord.  For  the  husband  is  the  head  of  the  wife,  even  as 
Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church ;  and  he  is  the  savior  of 
the  body.  Therefore,  as  the  Church  is  subject  unto  Christ, 
so  let  the  wives  be  to  their  own  husbands  in  every  thing. 
Husbands,  love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ  loved  the  Church, 
and  gave  himself  for  it,"  Eph.  v,  22-25.  "  So  ought  men 
to  love  their  wives  as  their  own  bodies.  He  that  loveth  his 
wife  loveth  himself,"  verse  28.  "For  this  cause  shall  a 
man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  be  joined  unto 
his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  be  one  flesh.  Let  every  one 
of  you  in  particular  so  love  his  wife  even  as  himself,  and 
the  wife  see  that  she  reverence  her  husband,"  verses  31,  33. 
(See  also  Titus  ii,  4 ;  1  Peter  iii,  1.) 

Because  slaves  are  property,  they  may  be  bought  and 
sold  like  other  property;  and  hence  the  code  of  slavery 
knows  nothing  of  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  and 
therefore  pays  no  attention  to  its  privileges,  obligations,  or 
duties.  For,  as  in  procuring  slaves  originally,  whether  by 
conquest  of  war,  kidnapping,  or  purchase,  there  is  no  regard 
paid  to  the  relation  of  husband  or  wife,  parent  or  child,  so 
also  in  holding  slaves,  according  to  the  slave  code,  no  regard 
is  had  to  the  relation  of  husband  or  wife.  All  the  laws  of 
slavery  are  founded  on  the  principle — no  husband,  no  wife, 
no  parent,  no  child.  The  master  and  the  slave  are  the  only 
names  known  to  slavery.  And  when  any  benevolent 
persons,  under  the  promptings  of  conscience  or  the  plainest 
dictates  of  humanity,  refuse  to  separate  husbands  and 
wives,  they  act  in  direct  opposition  to  the  first  principles  of 
the  slave  code,  and  in  spite  of  its  demands. 

The  master  may  entirely  forbid  marriage,  or  may  dissolve 

it  at  pleasure.     And  if  the  master  sometimes  may  have  the 

will  to  respect  marriage,  the  slave  code,  with  its  iron  hand, 

prevents  the  execution  of  his  purpose.     Slaves,  like  other 

25 


290  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

property,  may  be  taken  by  execution,  sold  for  debt,  and 
may,  therefore,  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  highest  bidders, 
who  may  drive  them  to  distant  parts  of  the  country,  and 
separate  them  without  reference  to  marriage  obligations. 
When  they  fall  into  the  hands  of  heirs,  the  same  fate  awaits 
them;  and,  indeed,  many  willfully  execute  the. laws,  and  sell 
husbands  and  wives  to  different  purchasers,  without  regard 
to  the  marriage  state. 

But,  even  when  the  husband  and  wife  are  not  separated 
from  each  other,  there  are  duties  and  privileges  belonging 
to  husbands  and  wives,  which  slavery  sets  aside.  From  the 
texts  we  have  quoted,  we  learn  that  wives  are  bound  "to 
submit  themselves  to  their  own  husbands,  as  unto  the  Lord ;" 
"to  be  subject  to  their  own  husbands  in  every  thing;"  "to 
reverence  her  husband."  While  the  husband  is  the  "head 
of  the  wife,"  he  is  "  to  love  his  wife ;"  "to  love  her  as  him- 
self." Now,  slavery  pays  no  regard  to  these  requirements. 
The  master,  not  the  husband,  possesses  the  supreme  au- 
thority over  both  husband  and  wife.  The  master,  too,  can 
enforce  obedience  to  his  commands  by  any  mode  of  punish- 
ment he  sees  fit  to  adopt,  with  the  exception  of  life  and 
limb;  and  even  over  these  his  power  extends,  if  he  takes 
away  the  life,  or  breaks  the  limb,  provided  it  is  not  done  in 
the  presence  of  white  persons.  The  power  of  the  master 
over  the  slave  wife  extends  to  the  employment  of  time,  her 
food,  clothing,  domestic  arrangements,  her  habitation,  her 
comfort.  The  wife  can  not  attend  to  her  sick  husband,  nor 
the  husband  to  his  sick  wife,  except  as  the  master  may 
allow  it. 

As  to  the  practice  in  this  matter,  we  are  at  no  loss  to 
ascertain  it.  Most  southern  papers  contain  standing  adver- 
tisements of  slave-dealers,  offering  "cash  and  the  highest 
price  for  likely  young  negroes,  of  both  sexes,  from  twelve 
to  twenty-five."  These  can  not  be  had  without  tearing 
asunder  families.  As  a  couple  of  specimens,  we  give  the 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  291 

following   from    the    great    numbers   of   such   as   appear 
constantly  in  the  southern  papers: 

"  Two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  reward. — Absconded 
from  my  estate  in  Goochland  county,  (Dover,)  in  August 
last,  slave  WASHINGTON,  very  active  and  sprightly.  He  was 
purchased  of  Mr.  Lane's  estate  in  January,  1836,  at  George's 
tavern,  in  Goochland ;  had  been  a  waterman  in  James  river 
for  several  years ;  is  well  known,  and  has  a  WIFE  and  other 
relations  about  Columbia  and  Cartersville,  where  it  is  be- 
lieved he  may  now  be  found.  I  will  pay  a  reward  of  $100 
for  his  delivery  to  my  manager,  Dover,  $50  if  secured  in 
any  jail  in  Virginia,  so  that  I  may  get  him  again,  or  $250 
if  taken  out  of  the  state  and  restored  to  me. 

"  JOHN  HETH,  Richmond  P.  0. 

"January  30,  1837." 

"Twenty-jive  dollars  reward. — Ran  away,  my  man 
CHARLES.  His  WIFE  was  carried  off  in  April  last  by"  Mr. 
William  Edwards,  of  Mississippi.  The  above  reward,  etc. 

"  WILLIAM  JONES, 
Of  Lambandy  Grove,  Mecklenburg,  Va. 

"September  23,  1836." 

In  the  slaveholding  states,  while  droves  of  slaves  are 
collecting  for  the  more  southern  market,  the  public  prisons 
are  frequently  crowded  with  parents  and  children,  and  hus- 
bands and  wives,  to  be  disposed  of  in  the  south  to  any 
purchaser.  A  petition,  in  former  years,  was  presented  to 
the  Kentucky  Legislature  against  this  inhuman  practice, 
and  rejected.  The  following  is  a  description  of  a  drove, 
collected  and  driven  by  Stone  and  Kinningham,  of  Bourbon 
county,  Kentucky.  The  description  is  from  the  pen  of  the 
Rev.  James  H.  Dickey,  a  pious  and  impartial  Presbyterian 
minister,  who  met  the  drove  before  it  entered  Paris,  Ky.: 

"In  the  summer  of  1822,  as  I  returned  with  my  family 
from  a  visit  to  the  Barrens  of  Kentucky,  I  witnessed  a  scene 
such  as  I  never  witnessed  before,  and  such  as  I  hope  never 


292  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

to  witness  again.  Having  passed  through  Paris,  in  Bourbon 
county,  Kentucky,  the  sound  of  music,  beyond  a  little  rising 
ground,  attracted  my  attention;  I  looked  forward,  and  saAv 
the  flag  of  my  country  waving.  Supposing  I  was  about  to 
meet  a  military  parade,  I  drove  hastily  to  the  side  of  the 
road;  and,  having  gained  the  top  of  the  ascent,  I  discov- 
ered, I  suppose,  about  forty  black  men,  all  chained  together 
after  the  following  manner :  Each  of  them  was  handcuffed, 
and  they  were  arranged  in  rank  and  file.  A  chain  perhaps 
forty  feet  long,  the  size  of  a  fifth-horse-chain,  was  stretched 
between  the  two  ranks,  to  which  short  chains  were  joined, 
which  connected  with  the  handcuffs.  Behind  them  were,  I 
suppose,  about  thirty  women,  in  double  rank,  the  couples 
tied  hand  to  hand.  A  solemn  sadness  sat  on  every  coun- 
tenance, and  the  dismal  silence  of  this  march  of  despair 
Was  interrupted  only  by  the  sound  of  two  violins ;  yes,  as 
if  to  add  insult  to  injury,  the  foremost  couple  were  fur- 
nished with  a  violin  apiece ;  the  second  couple  were  orna- 
mented with  cockades;  while  near  the  center  waved  the 
republican  flag,  carried  by  a  hand  literally  in  cliains.  I 
may  have  mistaken  some  punctilios  of  the  arrangement,  for 
'  my  soul  was  sick,'  my  feelings  were  mingled  and  pungent. 
As  a  man,  I  sympathized  with  suffering  humanity;  as  a 
Christian,  I  mourned  over  the  transgressions  of  God's  holy 
law ;  and,  as  a  republican,  I  felt  indignant  to  see  the  flag  of 
my  beloved  country  thus  insulted.  I  could  not  forbear 
exclaiming  of  the  lordly  driver,  who  rode  at  his  ease  along 
side,  '  Heaven  will  curse  that  man  who  engages  in  such 
traffic,  and  the  government  that  protects  him  in  it.'  I  pur- 
sued my  journey  till  evening,  and  put  up  for  the  night. 
When  I  mentioned  the  scene  I  had  witnessed,  '  Ah !'  cried 
my  landlady,  'that  is  my  brother.'  From  her  I  learned 
that  his  name  is  Stone,  of  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  in 
partnership  with  one  Kinningham,  of  Paris ;  and  that  a  few 
days  before  he  had  purchased  a  negro  woman  from  a  man 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  293 

in  Nicholas  county ;  she  refused  to  go  with  him ;  he  at- 
tempted to  compel  her,  but  she  defended  herself.  Without 
farther  ceremony  he  stepped  back,  and,  by  a  blow  on  the 
side  of  her  head  with  the  but  of  his  whip,  brought  her  to 
the  ground;  he  tied  her,  and  drove  her  off.  I  learned 
farther,  that  besides  the  drove  I  had  seen,  there  were  about 
thirty  shut  up  in  the  Paris  prison  for  safe-keeping,  to  be 
added  to  the  company,  and  that  they  were  designed  for 
the  Orleans  market.  And  to  this  they  are  doomed  for  no 
other  crime  than  that  of'  a  black  skin  and  curled  locks. 

'  Ah  me,  what  wish  can  prosper  or  what  prayer, 
For  merchants  rich  in  cargoes  of  despair  ? 
Who  drive  a  loathsome  traffic,  guage  and  span, 
And  buy  the  muscles  and  the  bones  of  man.'    (Cowper.) 

"Shall  I  not  visit  for  these  things,  saith  the  Lord?  shall 
not  my  soul  be  avenged  on  such  a  nation  as  this  ? 

"But  I  forbear,  and  subscribe  myself  yours, 

"JAMES  H.  DICKEY. 

"September  30,  1824." 

The  following  is  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  A.  Rankin,  a 
Tennesscean  by  birth  and  education,  and  brother  of  Rev. 
John  Rankin,  so  well  known  for  his  strong  antislavery  feel- 
ings. The  speech  was  delivered  in  Pittsburg,  in  1835. 
Mr.  Rankin  said: 

"But  we  are  told,  'You  at  the  north  know  nothing  of 
slavery — why  meddle  with  what  you  do  not  understand?' 
Sir,  we  do  know  what  slavery  is.  It  is  usurped  author- 
ity— a  system  of  legalized  oppression.  If  we  could  show 
what  is  this  moment  transpiring  in  the  land  of  slavery, 
every  bosom  in  this  house  would  thrill  with  horror.  I  will 
state  a  case:  A  minister  of  the  Gospel  owned  a  female 
slave,  whose  husband  was  owned  by  another  man  in  the 
same  neighborhood.  The  husband  did  something  supposed 
to  be  an  offense  sufficient  to  justify  his  master  in  selling 
him  for  the  southern  market.  As  he  started,  his  wife 
•25* 


294  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

.  obtained  leave  to  visit  him.  She  took  her  final  leave  of  him, 
and  started  to  return  to  her  master's  house.  She  went  a 
few  steps,  and  returned  and  embraced  him  again,  and  then 

,  started  the  second  tune  to  go  to  her  master's  house;  but 
the  feelings  of.  her  heart  overcame  her,  and  she  turned 
about  and  embraced  him  the  third  time.  Again  she  en- 

f  deavored  to  bear  up  under  the  heavy  trial,  and  return ;  but 
it  was  too  much  for  her — she  had  a  woman's  heart.  She 
returned  the  fourth  time,  embraced  her  husband,  and  turned 
about — A  MANIAC.  To  judge  what  slavery  is,  we  must 
place  ourselves  in  the  condition  of  the  slave.  Who  that 
has  a  wife,  who  that  has  a  husband,  could  endure  for  a 
moment  the  thought  of  such  a  separation!  Take  another 
case:  A  company  of  slave-dealers  were  passing  through 
Louisville  with  a  drove  of  slaves,  of  all  classes  and  descrip- 
tions. Among  them  were  many  mothers  with  infants  in 
their  arms.  These  often  became  troublesome  to  the  drivers : 
and  in  this  case,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  trouble,  the  inhu- 
man monsters  severed  the  cords  of  maternal  affection,  and 
took  these  infants,  from  three  to  five  months  old,  and  sold 
them  in  the  streets  of  Louisville,  for  what  they  could  get. 
Do  we  know  nothing  of  slavery?  Can  we  shut  our  eyes  to 
such  facts  as  these,  which  are  constantly  staring  us  in  the 
face?"  (See  Antislavery  Record,  vol.  i,  p.  81.) 

7.  Slavery  is  at  variance  with  those  commands  in  holy 
Scripture  which  enjoin  the  propagation  of  knowledg*  by 
some,  and  the  receiving  of  it  by  others.  We  are  com- 
manded to  "search  the  Scriptures,"  John  v,  39.  But  slavery 
utterly  prohibits  the  slaves  from  obeying  it.  For  no  slave 
is  permitted  to  read,  under  the  severest  penalties ;  nor  is 
any  one  permitted  to  instruct  him,  under  similar  penalties. 
We  are  commanded  to  "prove  all  things,  hold  fast  that 
which  is  good,"  1  Thess.  v,  21.  It  is  impossible  to  obey 
this  command  in  its  letter  or  spirit,  to  any  extent,  unless 
he  has  the  possession  and  use  of  all  his  natural  rights, 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  295 

personal  security,  personal  liberty,  and  private  property,  in 
their  fullest  extent ;  that  is,  unless  he  is  a  free  moral  agent. 
Slavery  effectually  prohibits  the  slaves  from  obeying  such 
commands. 

Indeed,  the  religion  of  heaven,  whether  in  its  Jewish  or 
Christian  edition,  is  a  great  system  of  light  and  knowledge. 
And  its  tendency  and  design  are  to  inculcate  knowledge 
among  all  classes  of  mankind.  It  brings  down  none  from 
a  state  of  intellectual  and  moral  elevation ;  while  its  great 
work  is  to  raise  all  to  virtue  and  knowledge.  The  state  of 
slavery  is,  therefore,  in  direct  hostility  to  the  commands 
and,  indeed,  provisions  contained  in  holy  Scripture,  the  end 
of  which  is  to  enlighten  mankind;  while  slavery  prohibits 
all  this,  and  by  this  means  sets  itself  up  against  God,  his 
light  and  his  truth. 

8.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  slave  to  aim  at  freedom.  "Art 
thou  called  being  a  servant?  care  not  for  it ;  but  if  thou 
mayest  be  made  free,  use  it  rather.  Ye  are  bought  with  a 
price;  be  not  ye  the  servants  of  men,"  1  Cor.  vii,  21,  23. 
Here  it  is  declared,  that  freedom  is  preferable  to  slavery; 
and  yet,  that  the  deliverance  of  the  soul  from  sin  is  of  greater 
importance  than  civil  freedom.  Yet,  the  command  is  clear, 
ft  ZOA  SWOKJCW — if  thou  mayest,  or,  rather,  if  thou  canst,  if 
thou  art  able  to  become  free — that  if  -it  was  in  the  power  of 
the  slave  to  become  free,  he  was  to  avail  himself  of  the 
'privilege.  If  the  laws  or  his  master  set  him  free — if  he 
could  purchase  his  freedom,  or  some  one  do  it  for  him — if 
in  any  way,  not  sinful,  he  could  become  free — he  was  to 
avail  himself  of  the  advantage.  The  command  in  the 
23d  verse,  "be  not  ye  the  servants  of  men,"  is  equally 
plain.  There  are  no  such  commands  uttered  in  regard  to 
the  relations  of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  as  are 
here  given  in  regard  to  slavery.  No  one  is  thus  urged  to 
dissolve  the  marriage  relation.  No  such  commands  are 
given  to  relieve  children  from  obedience  to  their  parents,  or 


296  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

to  exempt  parents  from  bringing  up  their  children  in  the 
discipline  and  instruction  of  the  Lord,  and  of  providing 
temporal  supplies  for  them. 

It  is,  therefore,  an  error  to  maintain  that  the  relation 
between  master  and  slave  is  of  the  same  obligation  as  the 
relation  between  child  and  parent,  husband  and  wife,  master 
and  servant.  The  relation  between  master  and  servant  is  a 
voluntary  one,  founded  in  the  necessities  of  mankind,  and  .is 
mutually  beneficial  to  both.  But  slavery  is  a  perversion  of 
just  servitude.  Slavery  originates  in  robbery  and  violence, 
and  is  continued  by  acts  of  injustice  and  violence,  and  can 
not  exist  without  the  infliction  and  endurance  of  the  greatest 
wrongs.  Servitude  is  the  voluntary  act  of  the  person  who 
serves.  God  sanctions  voluntary  servitude,  but  he  never 
did  and  never  can  sanction  slavery ;  because  they  are  essen- 
tially different  in  their  origin,  and  in  their  nature,  and  in 
their  results.  The  one  is  formed  by  the  mutual  agreement 
of  the  employer  and  employed,  for  a  stipulated  considera- 
tion, and  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  each;  while  the  other 
is  an  act  of  theft  or  of  robbery  on  the  one  part,  and  of  cruel 
divestment  of  rights,  and  infliction  of  wrongs  on  the  other 
part.  The  servant  is  free;  the  slave  is  not  free.  The 
servant  has  wages ;  the  slave  has  no  wages.  The  children  of 
the  servant  are  free,  while  the  children  of  the  slave  follow 
the  condition  of  the  mother.  In  short,  slavery  originated 
in  sin,  is  continued  by  sin,  and  ends  in  the  constant  involve- 
ment of  sin  to  the  very  last.* 

None  who  are  duly  enlightened  on  slavery  will  ever  con- 
tend, except  sophistically,  that  the  relation  of  parent  and 
child,  of  husband  and  wife,  of  master  and  servant,  are  the 
same  with,  or  even  similar  to,  the  relation  between  the 
master  and  slave.  This  is  put  beyond  all  doubt,  by  Judge 

*  See  Cornelius  a  Lapide  on  1  Cor.  vii,  24,  where  the  curious 
exposition  of  Chrysostom  and  others  are  referred  to.  Also  the 
decisions  of  Constantine  ad  Concilium  Toletani,  iv  c.,  64. 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS.  297 

Ruffin,  of  North  Carolina,  in  his  decision  of  the  case,  The 
State  vs.  Mann.     He  authoritatively  decides  as  follows: 

"The  established  habits  and  uniform  practice  of  the 
country  in  this  respect,  are  the  best  evidence  of  the  portion 
of  power  deemed  by  the  whole  community  requisite  to  the 
preservation  of  the  master's  dominion.  If  we  thought  dif- 
ferently, we  could  not  set  our  notions  in  array  against  the 
judgment  of  every  body  else,  and  say  that  this  or  that 
authority  may  be  safely  lopped  off.  This  has,  indeed,  been 
assimilated  at  the  bar  to  the  other  domestic  relations ;  and 
arguments  drawn  from  the  well-established  principles, 
which  confer  and  restrain  the  authority  of  the  parent  over 
the  child,  the  tutor  over  the  pupil,  the  master  over  the 
apprentice,  have  been  pressed  on  us.  The  Court  does  not 
recognize  their  application.  There  is  no  likeness  between 
the  cases.  They  are  in  opposition  to  each  other,  and  there 
is  an  impassable  gulf  between  them.  The  difference  is  that 
which  exists  between  freedom  and  slavery — and  a  greater 
can  not  be  imagined.  In  the  one,  the  end  in  view  is  the 
happiness  of  the  youth,  born  to  equal  rights  with  that  gov- 
ernor on  which  the  duty  devolves  of  training  the  youth  to 
usefulness,  in  a  station  which  he  is  afterward  to  assume 
among  freemen.  To  such  an  end  and  with  such  a  subject, 
moral  and  intellectual  instruction  seem  the  natural  means, 
and  for  the  most  part  they  are  found  to  suffice.  Moderate 
force  is  superadded,  only  to  make  the  others  effectual.  If 
that  fail,  it  is  better  to  leave  the  party  to  his  own  head- 
strong passions,  and  the  ultimate  corrections  of  the  law, 
than  to  allow  it  to  be  immoderately  inflicted  by  a  private 
person.  With  slavery  it  is  far  otherwise.  The  end  is  the 
profit  of  the  master,  his  security,  and  the  public  safety. 
The  subject  is  doomed,  in  his  own  person  and  his  posterity, 
to  live  without  knowledge,  and  without  the  capacity  to 
make  any  thing  his  own,  and  to  toil  that  another  may  reap 
the  fruits.  What  moral  considerations  shall  be  addressed 


298  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  COMMANDS. 

to  such  a  being,  to  convince  him  what  it  is  impossible  but 
that  the  most  stupid  must  feel  and  know  can  never  be  true, 
that  he  is  thus  to  labor  upon  a  principle  of  natural  duty  or 
for  the  sake  of  his  own  personal  happiness.  Such  services 
can  only  be  expected  from  one  who  has  no  will  of  his 
own — who  surrenders  his  will  in  implicit  obedience  to  that 
of  another.  Such  obedience  is  the  consequence  only  of 
uncontrolled  authority  over  the  body.  There  is  nothing 
else  can  operate  to  produce  the  effect.  The  power  of  the 
master  must  be  absolute,  to  render  the  submission  of  the 
slave  perfect.  I  most  freely  confess  my  sense  of  the  harsh- 
ness of  this  proposition.  I  feel  it  as  deeply  as  any  man  can. 
And,  as  a  principle  of  moral  right,  every  person  in  his 
retirement  must  repudiate  it ;  but  in  the  actual  condition  of 
things  it  must  be  so.  There  is  no  remedy.  This  discipline 
belongs  to  the  state  of  slavery.  They  can  not  be  disunited 
without  abrogating  at  once  the  rights  of  the  master,  and 
absolving  the  slave  from  his  subjection.  It  constitutes  the 
curse  of  slavery  to  both  the  bond  and  free  portions  of  our 
population.  But  it  is  inherent  in  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave.  That  there  may  be  particular  instances  of 
cruelty  and  deliberate  barbarity,  where  in  conscience  the 
law  might  properly  interfere,  is  most  probable."  (Wheeler's 
Law  of  Slavery,  pp.  245,  246.) 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES.  299 

CHAPTER    III. 

SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRIVILEGES. 

SLAVERY  is  contrary  to  many  Scriptural  principles  and 
privileges,  which  secure  to  the  whole  race  of  man  cer- 
tain rights  which  can  not  be  invaded  without  guilt  and 
wrong. 

1.  Slavery  is  contrary  to  the  original  grant  which  God 
gave  to  man  at  the  creation,  as  the  original  charter  gave 
no  grant  of  property  in  man.  This  grant  is  contained  in 
the  following  words:  "And  God  blessed  them,  and  God 
said  unto  them,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish 
the  earth,  and  subdue  it:  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish 
of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every 
living  thing  that  moveth  upon  the  earth.  And  God  said, 
Behold,  I  have  given  you  every  herb  bearing  seed,  which 
is  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth,  and  every  tree,  in  the 
which  is  the  fruit  of  a  tree  yielding  seed ;  to  you  it  shall 
be  for  meat,"  Gen.  i,  28,  29.  This  grant  is  recognized  and 
reasserted  to  the  human  race  after  the  flood.  (Gen.  ix,  1,  2.) 
It  is  referred  to  and  repeated  by  the  Psalmist  as  the  estab- 
lished truth  of  God,  still  unrepealed,  and  never  to  be 
repealed:  "For  thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels,  and  hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor.  Thou 
madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  thy  hands ; 
thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet :  all  sheep  and  oxen, 
yea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field ;  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and 
the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  whatsoever  passeth  through  the 
paths  of  the  seas,"  Psalm  viii,  5-8.  This  is  the  original 
charter  on  which  the  right  of  all  property  is  founded. 
Slavery  contradicts  this  grant  in  two  respects :  first,  by  one 
portion  of  the  human  family  claiming  and  securing  another 
portion  of  the  human  family  as  property ;  and  secondly,  by 
depriving  that  portion  of  mankind  of  their  right  to  enjoy 


300  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES. 

a  portion  of  the  common  property  bestowed  on  the  whole 
race  of  mankind. 

(1.)  Slavery  is  at  variance  with  this  original  grant, 
because  some  claim  property  in  others,  and  exercise  the 
dominion  vested  in  property  over  them.  We  no  where  find 
that  God  has  given  the  Saxon  a  right  of  property  in  the 
Indian  or  African — the  rich  and  powerful  in  the  poor  and 
defenseless.  God  only  is  the  lawful  despotes — the  lord,  or 
possessor  of  unlimited  authority  over  all  mankind.  The 
human  despotes,  or  slaveholder,  claims  a  power  which  alone 
can  belong  to  almighty  God.  No  such  dominion  of  man 
over  man,  or  property  in  man,  was  granted  to  man,  such  as 
the  dominion  and  property  of  man  in  the  earth  and  its 
productions ;  and  in  the  renewal  of  this  grant  to  Noah,  and 
in  the  repetition  of  it  by  the  Psalmist,  there  is  no  such 
grant  of  man  in  man  recognized.  Indeed,  there  are  many 
Scriptural  declarations,  denouncing  any  such  claims,  and 
pronouncing  them  to  be  robbery,  man-stealing,  violence, 
oppression,  and  condemning  all  these  acts  as  truly  sinful: 
"He  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found 
in  his  hand,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death,"  Ex.  xxi,  16; 
and  when  God  gave  all  mankind  a  right  of  property  in 
inanimate  and  irrational  creatures,  he  declares  that  one  man 
has  no  right  of  property  in  the  person  of  another. 

(2.)  Slavery  is  at  issue  with  this  original  grant  of 
property  in  irrational  and  inanimate  creatures  to  all  men, 
because  it  deprives  the  portion  who  are  enslaved  of  their 
just  portion:  1.  It  deprives  the  slaves  of  the  right  of 
being  fruitful  in  a  lawful  way,  by  separating  husbands  and 
wives,  and  dividing  and  scattering  families.  2.  Slavery  is 
a  usurpation  of  that  great  original  charter  from  God — of  all 
the  gifts  of  Providence  to  all  mankind ;  for  it  monopolizes 
the  whole  to  the  slaveholders  themselves,  and  robs  the 
slaves  of  their  just  rights.  3.  God  gave  the  grant  of  the 
whole  earth  to  all  mankind,  to  be  possessed  and  enjoyed ; 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES.  301 

but  slavery  robs  a  great  part  of  mankind  of  this  right.  It 
prevents  them  from  the  right  of  property  in  the  earth  or 
its  productions.  All  men,  in  virtue  of  the  original  grant, 
which  is  still  the  unrepealed  law  of  God,  have  a  moral 
right  to  possess  property  of  their  own  by  such  ways  as 
the  moral  law  and  just  civil  regulations  sanction;  but 
slavery  cuts  off  the  slave  from  this  provision,  by  declaring, 
in  opposition  to  the  law  of  God,  "  that  slaves  have  no  legal 
rights  of  property  in  things  real  or  personal ;  and  whatever 
property  they  may  acquire  belongs,  in  point  of  law,  to  their 
masters."  (Stroud,  pp.  45-50.)  Slavery  is,  therefore,  the 
complicated  crime  of  avarice  and  robbery — avarice,  in 
monopolizing  the  land  and  other  property  of  our  neighbors ; 
and  robbery,  in  doing  it  by  violence,  without  the  shadow  of 
justice. 

2.  Slavery  sinks  the  divine  image  of  God,  in  which  man 
was  created,  to  the  level  of  brutality. 

Of  all  the  creatures  which  God  created,  he  impressed 
his  own  image  upon  none  except  man.  The  creation  of 
man  was  the  subject  of  particular  deliberation,  so  to  speak, 
in  the  Godhead:  "And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our 
image,  after  our  likeness:  and  let  them  have  dominion 
over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and 
over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth.  So  God  cre- 
ated man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he 
him ;  male  and  female  created  he  them,"  Gen.  i,  26,  27.  In 
Gen.  v,  1,  we  find  it  again:  "In  the  likeness  of  God  made 
he  him."  This  image  consisted  of  knowledge,  righteous 
ness,  and  true  holiness.  (Eph.  iv,  24.)  And  because  man 
was  created  in  the  image  of  God,  no  satisfaction  could  be 
taken  for  the  life  of  a  murderer :  "  Whoso  sheddeth  man's 
blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed;  for  in  the  image  of 
God  made  he  man,"  Gen.  ix,  6.  So  in  Lev.  xxiv,  17,  18, 
21,  "He  that  killeth  any  man  shall  surely  be  put  to  death; 


302  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES. 

and  he  that  killeth  a  beast  shall  make  it  good,  beast  for 
beast;  and  he  that  killeth  a  man  shall  be  put  to  death." 
The  attempt,  however  fruitless,  to  destroy  the  image  of 
God  in  man,  is  an  indirect  attack  on  God  himself — on  his 
being  and  on  his  sovereignty.  How  wicked,  then,  is  it,  to 
degrade  the  image  of  God  in  man,  by  sinking  man  into  the 
degradation  of  a  brute !  God  made  man  only  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels ;  but  slavery  associates  him  with  the  beasts. 
God  "crowned  man  with  glory  and  honor;"  but  slavery 
tears  off  the  crown  of  honor  and  glory,  and  places  him 
under  the  yoke.  God  made  man  to  have  "dominion  over 
the  works  of  his  hands;"  but  slavery  casts  him  down 
among  or  beneath  those  works.  God  "  put  all  things  under 
his  feet;"  but  slavery  puts  man  under  the  feet  of  his 
owner. 

Man  is  a  rational,  moral,  immortal  being,  because  created 
in  God's  image.  He  is,  therefore,  the  child  or  son  of  God, 
because  created  to  unfold  Godlike  faculties,  and  to  govern 
himself  by  a  divine  law,  written  on  his  heart  and  repub- 
lished  in  his  word.  Thought,  reason,  intelligence,  con- 
science, the  capacity  of  virtue,  the  capacity  of  Christian 
love,  immortality,  the  idea  and  obligation  of  duty,  the  per- 
ception of  truth,  the  hope  of  happiness,  the  capacity  of 
endless  improvement — all  these  moral  and  intellectual  attri- 
butes declaring  a  moral  connection  with  God,  reduce  to 
insignificance  all  outward  distinctions,  and  make  every  hu- 
man being  unspeakably  dear  to  his  Creator.  The  capacity 
of  improvement  allies  the  most  ignorant  to  the  more  in- 
structed of  his  race,  and  places  within  his  reach  the  knowl- 
edge and  happiness  of  the  higher  world.  Such  a  being 
was  not  made  to  be  a  thing.  He  is  a  person — not  a  thing. 

But  slavery  fights  against  the  image  of  God  in  man.  It 
first  unmans  him  by  making  him  a  thing  of  mere  property 
as  far  as  possible.  It  can  not  .unman  him  so  far  as  to  de- 
prive him  of  immortality,  or  totally  imbrute  him,  and  in  its 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES.  303 

rage  to  undo  him  wholly,  but  is  compelled,  while  endeavor- 
ing to  make  him  a  chattel  or  thing,  to  call  him  a  "chattel 
personal,"  because  God  himself  hath  set  limits  to  man's 
wickedness,  so  that  he  "can  not  kill  the  soul,"  though  he 
may  imbrute  the  body  and  crush  the  spirit  within  man.  It 
is  needless  here  to  enlarge.  Slavery  degrades  and  attempts 
to  efface  the  moral  image  of  God  from  man,  consisting  of 
knowledge,  righteousness,  and  true  holiness.  The  slave- 
holder may  feed  and  clothe  the  body  to  preserve  its  health, 
and  thereby  secure  the  more  labor.  He  may  even  so  far 
cultivate  mind  as  to  give  profitable  direction  to  the  bodily 
powers,  that  they  may  profit  him  the  more.  Here  is  the 
utmost  limit  of  slavery.  The  intellectual  powers  are 
crushed,  and  the  master  slave  state,  South  Carolina,  de- 
nounces "all  mental  improvement  in  slaves."  And  this  is 
the  first  law  of  the  code  of  slavery  every-where,  and  it  can 
never  be  changed  till  slavery  is  destroyed.  All  the  mo- 
rality of  the  decalogue  is  set  aside  by  slavery;  and  if  any 
of  it  lives  among  the  slaves,  it  is  because  there  are  some 
slaveholders  who,  in  spite  of  the  system,  do  much  to  coun- 
teract it,  by  acknowledging  the  ten  commandments  as  oblig- 
atory on  themselves  and  their  slaves,  and  promoting  the 
practice  of  them  as  they  can.  A  volume  would  not  contain 
the  atrocities  of  slavery,  as  it  operates  against  the  image  of 
God  in  man  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  its  other  legion  sins. 

3.  All  men  are  redeemed  by  the  same  blood  of  Christ; 
and  therefore,  this  common  and  general  redemption  by  the 
blood  of  Christ  is  at  variance  with  slavery. 

"  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten 
son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life,"  John  iii,  16.  This  redemption  is  so 
extensive  as  to  reach,  in  its  provisions  and  influence,  to  all 
and  every  one  of  the  human  family,  in  the  past,  present, 
and  all  future  generations  of  men.  The  efficacy  of  his 
sacrifice  reached  backward  to  the  fall  of  man,  as  well  as  to 


304  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES. 

the  end  of  time.  Christ  is  the  atonement  for  the  sins  of 
the  world.  Hence  John  the  Baptist  calls  him  "the  Lamb 
of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  He  is 
the  "Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,"  Rev. 
xiii,  8 ;  "  Who  verily  was  foreordained — ftposyvu^t v<n> — -fore- 
known— before  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

Redemption  of  the  race  of  man  through  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ  is  antagonistic  to  slavery.  Almighty  God  delivered 
the  Israelites  from  bondage,  because  such  a  state  was  in- 
compatible with  the  true  interests  of  man ;  and  the  Hebrews 
were  commanded  expressly  not  to  allow  slavery  among 
themselves:  "For  they  [the  Hebrews]  are  my  servants, 
which  I  have  brought  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt :  they 
shall  not  be  sold  as  bondsmen,"  Lev.  xxv,  42;  and  the 
servitude  which  God  ordained  to  the  Hebrews,  whether 
among  themselves  or  with  other  nations,  was  not  slavery ; 
for  it  differed  from  slavery  in  all  the  elements  which  consti- 
tute slavery. 

St.  Paul,  too,  declares,  that  slavery  is  opposed  to  redemp- 
tion :  "  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price ;  be  not  ye  the  servants 
of  men,"  1  Cor.  vii,  23.  There  are  many  evils,  snares, 
dangers,  and  disabilities  inseparable  from  a  state  of  slavery. 
Civil  slavery  is  utterly  unbecoming  the  freed  man  of  Christ : 
"For  ye  are  bought  with  a  price;  therefore,  glorify  God  in 
your  body  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's,"  1  Cor.  vi, 
20.  Christians,  even  in  their  bodies,  are  represented  as 
"the  temple  of  God,"  1  Cor.  iii,  16,  17;  and  "the  temple 
of  the  living  God,"  2  Cor.  vi,  16;  and  "the  temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  1  Cor.  vi,  19 ;  plainly  showing,  that  Chris- 
tians are  consecrated  to  God.  They  are,  therefore,  as  the 
redeemed  creatures  of  God,  to  "glorify  God  in  their  body," 
by  temperance,  chastity,  and  purity;  and  "in  their  spirit," 
by  faith,  hope,  and  love — humility,  resignation,  patience — 
by  meekness,  gentleness,  long-suffering,  and  universal  benev- 
olence. The  privileges  of  redemption  elevate  men  to  the 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES.  305 

high  moral  station  of  "kings  and  priests  unto  God,"  Rev. 
v,  9,  10,  with  the  exercise  of  which  slavery  continually  in- 
terferes. 

The  same  great  sacrifice  has  been  made  for  the  slave  as 
for  the  master ;  and  therefore,  the  soul  of  the  slave  is  worth 
as  much  as  the  soul  of  the  master.  As  a  redeemed  sinner — 
an  heir  of  heaven — the  slave  is  equal  to  his  master.  He 
has  the  same  right  to  forsake  his  sins,  repent,  believe,  pray, 
worship  God,  practice  all  the  duties  of  religion,  enjoy  all  its 
privileges — as  marriage,  government  of  his  children  and  his 
house,  etc. — as  his  master  has.  All  this  is  indisputable, 
from  the  privileges  of  redemption ;  in  consequence  of  which 
the  slave  is  entitled  to  employ  his  body  and  soul  in  God's 
service,  and  to  enjoy  all  the  means  of  grace. 

But  slavery  takes  no  cognizance  of  its  victims  as  the 
redeemed  creatures  of  God.  It  exposes  them  to  sale,  rob- 
bery, deprivatipns,  and  cruel  treatment.  It  forbids  them  to 
read  or  to  learn  to  read.  Its  code  puts  their  time,  con- 
science, body,  and  soul  into  the  hands  of  an  oppressor ;  and 
all  the  duties,  privileges,  and  advantages  flowing  from 
redemption  are  neither  known,  heeded,  nor  provided  for,  in 
the  code  of  American  slavery.  If  some  slaveholders  treat 
their  slaves  differently  from  this,  no  thanks  to  slavery  for 
this. 

And  how  can  any  Christian,  who  has  himself  partaken 
of  the  benefits  of  redemption,  hold  another  Christian 
brother  in  bondage,  regard  him  as  property,  sell  him  to 
others,  break  up  his  domestic  relations,  or  interfere  with 
any  of  his  rights  as  a  husband,  father,  son,  Christian? 
Where  is  the  right,  authority,  or  ivarrant,  from  the  word  of 
God,  by  which  one  Christian  holds  another  as  property? 
Where  is  his  right  to  sell  him  or  keep  him,  to  transfer  him, 
by  contract  or  will,  to  others,  to  appropriate  the  avails  of 
his  labor  to  his  own  use,  to  regulate  exactly  his  manner  of 
living,  to  separate  him  from  his  wife,  and  children,  and 
26* 


306  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES. 

home,  and  to  determine  the  times  and  seasons,  if  any, 
when  he  may  worship  God  ?  There  is  no  warrant  for  such 
treatment  of  a  fellow-Christian,  or  a  human  being,  derived 
from  the  word  of  God. 

Indeed,  the  early  Christians  very  generally  deemed  it 
repugnant  to  Christianity,  for  any  Christian  to  hold  another 
in  slavery,  basing  their  argument  on  the  declaration  of 
Paul :  "  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price ;  be  ye  not  the  servants 
of  men."  Accordingly,  Contantine  the  Great,  in  330,  made 
a  decree  that  no  Jew  or  Pagan  should  retain  a  Christian  as 
a  slave.  (See  lib.  i,  Codicis,  tit.  Ne  Christianum,  etc.) 
And  the  three  sons  of  Constantino  confirmed  and  continued 
the  same  law.  (Sozomen,  lib.  iii,  c.  17.)  Gregory  the 
Great  did  the  same.  (Greg.  Mag.,  lib.  iii,  Epist.  9.)  The 
Council  of  Toledo  enacted  similar  laws.  (Concil.  Toletani, 
iv,  c.  64.)  Aquinas  speaks  approvingly  of  these  laws. 
(Aquinas  Sum.  Theologiae,  2,  2,  q.  10,  ar.  10.)  (See  Corne- 
lius a  Lapide  on  1  Cor.  vii,  22.) 

4.  Slavery  is  a  usurpation  of  Divine  right.  Man  is 
responsible  to  God  for  the  use  of  his  powers.  It  is  true, 
we  may  exercise  our  powers  under  such  limitations  as  still 
leave  us  at  liberty  to  govern  them  by  a  supreme  regard  to 
the  will  of  God.  A  more  absolute  control  than  this  over  us, 
by  any  human  being,  is  subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  Divine 
government.  Such  is  the  power  of  the  slaveholder,  by 
which  the  will  of  the  slave  is  subjected,  on  pain  of  fearful 
penalties,  to  the  absolute  dictation  of  his  master.  "  A 
slave  is  one  who  is  in  the  power  of  a  master,  to  whom  he 
belongs.  The  master  may  sell  him,  dispose  of  his  person, 
his  industry,  and  his  labor;  he  can  do  nothing,  possess 
nothing,  nor  acquire  any  thing,  but  what  must  belong  to  his 
master."  (Louisiana  Civil  Code,  art.  35.) 

The  claim  of  slavery  equals  the  claim  of  God.  It  claims 
the  whole  man — his  soul,  body,  and  strength — all  he  can 
possess,  all  he  can  acquire.  The  slave  may  be  legally 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES.  307 

required  to  sin  against  God,  by  restrahiing  prayer  and 
exhortation,  by  whipping  his  parents,  by  lying,  by  Sabbath- 
breaking,  by  adultery ;  and,  in  case  of  refusal,  he  may  be 
doomed  to  excruciating  pain.  It  is  that  despotic  power 
which  can  not  be  exercised  without  oppression,  and  which 
it  is  sinful  to  confer  on  any  other;  or  to  hold  it,  except 
under  protest,  with  the  purpose  of  getting  rid  of  it  as  soon 
as  possible.  It  never  can  be  exercised  without  sin.  And, 
if  conferred  by  law,  it  can  never  be  held  except  so  far  as 
to  hold  it  in  view  of  getting  rid  of  it  for  the  benefit  of  the 
oppressed.  No  one  can  long,  if  at  all,  hold  this  power 
without  exercising  it.  And  the  exercise  of  it  interferes 
with  the  freedom  of  conscience  and  moral  agency,  by  forci- 
bly detaining  another  in  a  condition  where  the  duties  of 
parents,  children,  friends,  citizens,  Christians,  etc.,  can  not 
be  freely  and  fully  discharged.  Whatever  liberty  may  be 
allowed  a  slave,  he  must  suffer  restraint  in  regard  to  plans 
of  prospective  duty,  enjoyment,  and  usefulness.  Yet,  were 
the  slaveholder's  power  not  employed  to  involve  the  slave  in 
the  commission  of  sin  or  the  omission  of  duty,  the  posses- 
sion of  such  power  is  usurpation ;  it  is  holding  Divine  power, 
or  it  is  exercising  the  prerogative  of  God.  It  is  placing 
man  in  complete  dependence  on  the  will  of  his  fellow,  and 
holding  him  under  legal  liability  to  be  forced  against  his 
conscience  and  his  duty.  It  is  putting  one  man  in  the  place 
of  God  to  another,  as  far  as  this  can  be  done,  than  which 
no  sin  can  be  greater.  And  whenever  this  fearful  power  is 
conferred  by  law  on  a  person  without  his  knowledge  or 
consent,  he  can  not  exercise  the  power  without  sin,  or  even 
retain  it  except  under  protest — that  he  can  not  hold  it, 
much  less  exercise  it,  except  so  long  as  legally  to  get  rid 
of  it. 

5.  The  system  of  slavery  is  contrary  to  the  natural 
equality  of  mankind. 

The  Bible  teaches  this  equality.     "God  hath  made  of 


308  SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES. 

one  blood  all  nations  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth,"  Acts  xvii,  26.  And  Malachi  asks,  "  Have  we  not 
all  one  Father  ?  hath  not  one  God  created  us  ?  why  do  we 
deal  treacherously  every  man  against  his  brother?"  Mai.  ii, 
10.  (See,  also,  Job  xxi,  15.)  Here  is  established  the  unity 
and  sameness  of  human  nature,  wherever  men  are  found, 
and  whatever  their  varieties  may  be.  There  are  as  many 
distinct  persons  as  there  are  individuals  hi  the  human  family ; 
but  there  is  only  one  nature  in  all.  Human  nature  is  a  unit, 
and  all  possess  it  in  common.  Hence,  all  men  are  born 
equal,  and  have  equal  natural  rights.  No  man,  according 
to  God's  law,  can  be  born  either  the  lord  or  the  slave  of 
another.  The  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  echo  of 
Scripture  in  this  matter,  declares,  "All  men  are  created 
free  and  equal."  Hence,  all  men  are  entitled  to  their 
natural  rights,  of  personal  liberty,  personal  security,  and 
the  right  of  holding  property ;  although  these  very  rights 
are  withheld  from  nearly  three  millions  of  human  beings, 
who  live  under  the  flag  of  liberty. 

This  declaration  of  human  equality,  borrowed  from  the 
Bible,  does  not  mean  that  all  men  possess  equal  wealth  or 
learning ;  that  the  parent  shall  have  no  right  to  the  services 
of  the  child;  that  the  wife  shall  not  be  in  subjection  to  her 
husband.  This  equality,  according  to  the  plain  dictates  of 
common  sense,  means,  that  all  men,  in  coming  into  the 
world  and  going  through  it,  have  an  equal  opportunity 
to  exercise  all  their  own  powers  of  body  and  mind  for 
their  own  happiness ;  that  one  parent  shall  have  as  good  a 
right  to  the  services  of  his  own  children  as  any  other  shall 
have  to  the  services  of  his  children;  that  every  wife  shall 
be  in  subjection  to  her  own  husband,  and  to  no  one  else ; 
and  that  no  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty  for  an 
alleged  crime,  "without  due  process  of  law." 

The  natural  equality  of  mankind  is  one  of  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  Christianity,  on  which  the  whole  system 


SLAVERY  VS.  SCRIPTURAL  PRINCIPLES.  309 

is  based,  and  which  sends  its  influence  into  all  parts  of  the 
system.  One  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  slavery,  that 
one  class  of  men  is  superior  to  another,  is  at  variance  with 
this  Scripture  doctrine.  On  this  ground  Aristotle  main- 
tained slavery.  And  the  doctrine  of  the  essential  equality 
of  mankind,  will  prove  fatal  to  slavery :  that  all  men  have 
one  common  father,  that  the  same  blood  flows  in  all  human 
veins,  that  all  are  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  that  all 
are  partakers  alike  of  Christian  privileges,  that  all  are 
bound  to  perform  the  same  Christian  duties,  that  all  are 
heirs  to  the  same  everlasting  inheritance — these  great 
truths,  flowing  from  the  equality  of  human  nature,  are 
directly  subversive  of  slavery,  and  at  no  distant  day  they 
will  overthrow  it. 

6.  Slavery  is  contrary  to  the  end  or  chief  good  of  man, 
which  is  to  glorify  God,  and  enjoy  him  forever. 

As  slavery  so  places  men  under  the  complete  dominion  of 
a  master,  that  the  slaves  are  not  at  liberty  to  dispose  of 
their  time  for  the  service  of  God  or  the  enjoyment  of  him, 
they  are  prevented  from  the  exercise  of  reading,  meditation, 
and  prayer.  God  commands  all  men  to  seek  and  exercise 
religion.  But  the  slave  is  bound  to  submit  to  the  master's 
authority,  come  what  will.  The  slaveholder's  power  is 
exercised  over  the  private  relative  duties  of  the  slave,  with- 
out being  controlled  by  the  laws  of  government.  The 
usurpation  of  that  power  constitutes  the  sin  of  slavery. 
The  cruel  administration  of  that  power  is  only  an  aggrava- 
tion of  that  crime.  The  grand  reason  why  a  tyrant  should 
be  deposed,  is  not  merely  because  his  administration  is 
cruel,  but  because  he  has  usurped  the  power  which  knows 
neither  bounds  nor  restraints.  Now,  this  power  interferes 
with  or  even  frustrates  the  great  end  of  man's  being — to 
glorify  God  and  enjoy  him. 


310         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

SLAVERY  involves  a  breach  of  all  the  ten  commandments. 
It  breaks  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  and  ninth  indi- 
rectly, and  the  other  five  directly. 

God  requires  of  man  obedience  to  his  revealed  will, 
which  is  comprised  in  the  moral  law.  "  The  moral  law  is 
the  declaration  of  the  will  of  God  to  mankind,  directing 
and  binding  every  one  to  personal,  perfect,  and  perpetual 
conformity  and  obedience  thereunto,  in  the  frame  and  dis- 
position of  the  whole  man,  soul  and  body,  and  in  perform- 
ance of  all  those  duties  of  holiness  and  righteousness  which 
he  oweth  to  God  and  man ;  promising  life  upon  the  fulfill- 
ing, and  threatening  death  upon  the  breach  of  it.  The 
moral  law  is  summarily  comprehended  in  the  ten  command- 
ments, the  first  four  commandments  containing  our  duty  to 
God,  and  the  other  six  our  duty  to  man." 

"  For  the  right  understanding  of  the  ten  commandments, 
these  rules  are  to  be  observed : 

"  1.  That  the  law  is  perfect,  and  bindeth  every  one  to 
full  conformity  in  the  whole  man  to  the  righteousness 
thereof,  and  to  entire  obedience  forever,  so  as  to  require  the 
utmost  perfection  of  every  duty,  and  to  forbid  the  least 
degree  of  every  sin. 

"  2.  That  it  is  spiritual,  and  so  reacheth  the  understand- 
ing, will,  affections,  and  all  other  powers  of  the  soul,  as 
well  as  works  and  gestures. 

"3.  That  one  and  the  same  thing,  in  divers  respects,  is 
required  or  forbidden  in  several  commandments. 

"  4.  That  as,  where  a  duty  is  commanded  the  contrary 
sin  is  forbidden,  and  where  a  sin  is  forbidden  the  contrary 
duty  is  commanded,  so  where  a  promise  is  annexed  the 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  311 

contrary  threatening  is  included,  and  where  a  threatening 
is  annexed  the  contrary  promise  is  included. 

"5.  That  what  God  forbids  is  at  no  time  to  be  done; 
what  he  commands  is,  always  our  duty ;  and  yet  every  par- 
ticular duty  is  not  to  be  done  a-t  all  times. 

"6.  That  under  one  sin  or  duty  all  of  the  same  kind  are 
forbidden  or  commanded,  together  with  all  the  causes, 
means,  occasions,  and  appearances  thereof,  and  provocations 
thereto. 

"  7.  That  what  is  forbidden  or  commanded  to  ourselves, 
we  are  bound,  according  to  our  places,  to  endeavor  that  it 
may  be  avoided  or  performed  by  others,  according  to  the 
duty  of  their  places, 

"  8.  That  in  what  is  commanded  to  others,  we  are  bound, 
according  to  our  places  and  callings,  to  be  helpful  to  them, 
and  to  take  heed  of  partaking  with  others  in  what  is  for- 
bidden them."  (Presbyterian  Confession  of  Faith  on  the 
Ten  Commandments.) 

The  sum  of  the  first  four  commandments,  containing  our 
duty  to  God,  is,  to  love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our 
heart,  and  with  all  our  soul,  and  with  all  our  strength,  and 
with  all  our  mind.  The  sum  of  the  other  six  command- 
ments, which  contain  our  duty  to  man,  is,  to  love  our  neigh- 
bors as  ourselves,  and  to  do  to  others  as  we  would  have 
them  do  to  us. 

Now,  let  us  see  how  slavery,  in  its  laws,  judicial  decisions, 
and  the  lawful  practice  under  these  laws  and  decisions,  will 
bear  the  test  of  the  ten  commandments.  We  maintain  that 
slavery — theoretical  and  practical  slavery — is  a  violation  of 
every  commandment  of  the  decalogue;  the  first  four  and 
ninth  indirectly,  and  the  other  five  directly. 

1.  Slavery  is  a  breach  of  the  first  commandment.  This 
commandment  requires,  that  we  know  and  acknowledge 
God  to  be  the  only  true  God,  and  to  worship  and  glorify 
him  accordingly.  Now,  slavery  necessarily  prevents  the 


312         THE  DECALOGUE  AOAINST  SLAVERY. 

slaves  from  the  means  of  knowing  God  as  the  living  and 
true  God,  and  restrains  or  prevents  them  from  worshiping 
and  serving  God.  The  master,  in  holding  man  as  property, 
assumes  the  place  of  God,  because  his  authority  comes  in 
superior  to  the  obligations  of  God's  law ;  so  that  he  can  re- 
strain the  slave  from  all  those  duties  which  the  law  of  God 
requires  of  him,  such  as  the  time  of  worshiping  God,  the 
duty  of  taking  time  and  using  means  to  read  his  word,  in 
order  that  he  may  know  how  to  discharge  his  duty  to  God. 
This  usurping  the  place  of  God  is  not  only  unjust  and 
cruel,  but  it  is  an  affront  to  the  majesty  of  God. 

It  is  of  no  weight  to  say,  that  some  individuals  do  not 
restrain  their  slaves  from  the  means  of  knowledge;  for 
involuntary,  unmerited,  hereditary  slavery,  of  necessity,  re- 
quires the  means  of  knowledge  to  be  withheld  from  the 
slaves;  and  it  is  notorious  that  slaves  generally  are  kept  ui 
the  most  degraded  ignorance.  Therefore,  slavery  is  a  vio- 
lation of  the  first  commandment,  because  the  master  usurps 
the  place  of  God,  and  claims  the  first  reverence  of  the 
slave. 

Besides,  the  ignorance  of  the  slaves  renders  them  inca- 
pable of  distinguishing  that  real  Christianity  which  pro- 
duces gentleness,  meekness,  temperance,  from  that  which 
they  see  in  their  masters.  And  hence  they  may  be  led  to 
conclude  that  Christianity  is  a  system  of  error  and  cruelty. 
And,  probably,  this  is  one  of  the  causes  which  prevents 
many  of  them  from  attending  public  worship,  when  they 
are  allowed  to  do  so. 

Nevertheless,  in  justice  it  must  be  admitted  that  many 
slaves  are  truly  religious.  But,  then,  this  is  not  owing  in 
any  way  to  slavery,  but  in  spite  of  it.  God  inclines  the 
hearts  of  some  masters  to  grant  certain  privileges  -to  their 
slaves.  And  when  this  is  not  done,  God  preserves  wit- 
nesses to  his  religion  among  them,  amidst  all  the  privations 
and  disabilities  which  wicked  masters  impose.  Yet,  their 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  313 

Christianity,  where  it  ever  does  exist  in  its  genuine  charac- 
ter, can  not  be  so  mature  as  if  no  slavery  had  thrown  in  its 
disabilities.  And  still,  all  things  considered,  Christianity 
has  done  very  much  more  than  all  other  things  to  benefit 
and  enlighten  the  slave.  So  that  in  spite  of  all  the  disa- 
bilities of  the  cruel  and  wicked  slave  laws,  true  religion 
has  so  far  gained  that  the  very  system  of  slavery  is  totter- 
ing to  its  foundation  under  the  light  and  power  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

2.  Slavery  involves  the  breach  of  the  second  command- 
ment: "Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image," 
etc.  As  the  first  commandment  comprehends  particularly 
whatever  pertains  to  the  internal  worship  of  God,  the 
second  comprehends  whatever  appertains  to  the  external 
worship  of  God.  It  comprises  partaking  of  sacraments, 
attending  to  God's  ordinances,  and  performing  those  holy 
duties  he  has  required  from  us  to  his  glory,  the  edifica- 
tion of  others,  and'  our  own  salvation;  it  enjoins  a  free, 
open,  and  undaunted  profession  of  the  truth,  a  religious 
vowing  to  God,  a  diligent  reading  of  the  word  of  God, 
and  a  constant  and  reverent  attendance  on  it  when  read 
or  preached.  And  God  has  no  less  enjoined  his  external 
worship  than  his  internal;  and  he  requires  the  worship 
of  the  soul  and  body;  of  the  soul  as  the  chief  seat  of 
worship,  and  of  the  body  as  the  best  testimony  of  it. 

The  slave  has  no  power  to  worship  God  in  the  practical 
use  of  his  word  and  ordinances;  nor  power  to  command 
his  own  children  or  household,  but  through  the  permission 
of  his  master.  If  the  slave  worship  God  at  all,  or  teaches 
his  family,  it  must  be  according  to  the  sovereign  will  of 
his  master. 

Now,  slavery  excludes  the  slave  from  the  means  of  know- 
ing the  true  God  and  his  ordinances,  and  prevents  the 
possibility  of  his  keeping  pure  and  entire  such  religious 
ordinances  as  he  has  appointed  in  his  word,  by  monopolizing 
27 


314         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

all  the  slave's  time  to  himself,  without  allowing  him  either 
leisure  or  means  to  know  the  will  of  God,  or  to  render  that 
-worship  and  reverence  to  him  which  his  word  requires. 
Therefore,  slavery  is  a  breach  of  the  second  commandment, 
and  consequently  sinful. 

Slavery  approaches  close  to  sacrificing  to  an  idol,  or  false 
God.  The  idol  is  riches.  The  sacrifice  is  the  temporal 
and  eternal  happiness  of  the  slaves.  The  heathens  offered 
up  human  sacrifices,  which  did  not  affect  the  eternal  inter- 
ests of  the  victims ;  but  slavery  affects  both  the  temporal 
and  eternal  interests  of  man,  and  seems  to  be  a  crime  much 
worse  than  heathen  idolatry. 

Nor  is  the  prevention  of  knowledge  an  abuse  of  slavery, 
but  it  is  essential  to  its  existence.  Indeed,  the  education  of 
slaves  is  an  abuse  of  slavery,  because  it  tends  to  bring  about 
their  emancipation,  and  put  an  end  to  the  practice.  But 
slavery  could  not  bear  the  expense  of  the  time,  labor,  and 
necessary  outlays  of  education ;  for  slaveholders  can  have  no 
profits,  except  what  arise  from  extortion,  or  the  privations 
of  education,  food,  and  clothing. 

3.  Slavery  involves  the  breach  of  the  third  command- 
ment: "Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God 
in  vain ;  for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh 
his  name  in  vain." 

This  commandment  requires  that  the  name  of  God,  his 
titles,  attributes,  word,  ordinances,  sacraments,  etc.,  be 
holily  and  reverently  used  in  thought,  word,  and  act.  The 
ignorance  of  the  slaves  prevents  the  slaves  from  knowing 
properly  the  character  of  God,  or  performing  the  duties 
they  owe  him,  in  order  to  worship  him  agreeably  to  his  word. 

This  commandment  forbids  the  abuse  and  unnecessary 
use  of  the  name  of  God;  but  the  ignorance  of  slaves  is 
the  occasion  of  profanity  in  the  lives  and  conversation  of 
slaves,  so  that  they  become  addicted  to  profane  swearing 
and  cursing. 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  315 

Besides,  the  practice  of  slaveholding  is  a  breach  of  the 
sacramental  vows  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper;  for 
these  vows  bind  all,  with  the  solemnity  of  an  oath,  to  love 
their  neighbor  as  themselves,  and  to  do  to  others  as  they 
would  others  should  do  to  them. 

4.  Slavery  promotes  the  breach  of  the  fourth  command- 
ment, which  is,  "Remember  the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it 
holy." 

As  the  slave  is  properly  amenable  to  no  law,  except  the 
will  of  his  master,  if  he  chooses  to  obey  the  law  of  God 
for  conscience's  sake,  the  master  may  punish  him  severely ; 
so  that  the  slave  may  be  compelled  to  break  the  Sabbath. 
If  he  refuse  positively  to  obey  his  master,  in  this,  he  can 
have  no  adequate  protection  from  the  laws  of  the  slave 
states.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  laws  will  not  give  pos- 
itive protection  to  a  master,  in  compelling  slaves  to  work  on 
the  Sabbath;  yet,  as  the  testimony  of  colored  persons  will 
not  be  taken  in  slave  states,  the  master  may  compel  the 
slave  to  violate  the  Sabbath,  or  break  any  other  precept  of 
the  moral  law.  Many  slaveholders  compel  their  slaves  to 
labor  in  the  field  on  the  Sabbath.  Others,  by  scanty  allow- 
ance of  food  and  clothing,  compel  them  to  labor  on  the 
Sabbath  for  their  support;  and  domestic  slaves,  to  a  very 
great  extent,  are  employed  in  serving  their  masters  or  fam- 
ilies on  the  Sabbath;  and  thus  their  Sabbath  privileges 
are  very  few.  Add  to  this,  the  ignorance  of  slaves  in 
regard  to  God's  word,  his  doctrines,  moral  precepts,  prom- 
ises, economy  of  grace,  greatly  disqualify  them  from  keep- 
ing the  Sabbath;  hence,  the  breach  of  the  Sabbath  is  a 
necessary  consequence  of  slavery. 

5.  The  practice  of  slavery  is  a  breach  of  the  fifth  com- 
mandment, which  is,  "Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother." 
This  commandment  teaches  the  duties  of  parents  to  chil- 
dren, and  the  duties  of  children  to  parents. 

One  of  the  principal  duties  of  parents  to  children  is,  to 


316         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

instruct  them  in  the  knowledge  of  God's  word,  the  doc- 
trines of  religion,  and  the  way  of  salvation  through  Christ. 
"Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is 
old  he  will  not  depart  from  it,"  Prov.  xxii,  6.  "And  these 
words  which  I  command  thee  this  day  shall  be  in  thine  heart ; 
and  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy  children,  and 
shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house,  and 
when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou  liest  down, 
and  when  thou  risest  up,"  Deut.  vi,  6-8. 

The  duties  of  parents  comprise  providing  for  the  tem- 
poral good  of  children,  in  furnishing  protection  and  provi- 
sion of  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of  life,  and  in 
preparing  them  for  performing  the  duties  of  after  life.  For 
their  spiritual  good  parents  should  educate  their  children  in 
the  principles  of  religion,  discipline  them  in  its  practice  and 
precepts,  and  leave  them  a  good  example.  On  the  other 
hand,  children  are  bound  to  reverence  and  love  their 
parents,  obey  them  in  all  things  in  the  Lord,  provide  for 
them  in  sickness,  poverty,  and  old  age,  receive  their  good 
instructions,  and  imitate  their  good  examples. 

Slavery  pays  no  regard  to  these  reciprocal  duties  of 
parents  and  children.  The  parent  is  not  permitted  to 
instruct,  command,  or  train  up  his  children.  The  children 
are  not  permitted  to  obey  or  reverence  their  parents.  Sla- 
very does  this,  by  transferring  to  the  master  the  authority 
and  place  of  the  parents  over  their  children,  and  the  right 
obedience  of  children  to  their  parents.  Thus  the  authority 
of  the  master  rises  above  the  moral  law,  as  it  relates  to  the 
duties  of  parents  to  children  and  of  children  to  parents. 
Slavery  goes  beyond  the  furthest  extent  of  the  civil  power; 
for  the  civil  power  claims  no  authority  over  the  private 
rights  and  duties  of  citizens;  so  that  a  slaveholder  is  a 
tyrant  or  despot  of  the  worst  kind. 

A  government  founded  on  equity  depends  upon  the 
power  delegated  to  civil  rulers  from  the  people,  which  can 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  317 

not  interfere  with  the  private  rights  or  private  relative  duties 
of  the  people,  for  these  private  rights  and  duties  can  not  be 
transferred  to  representatives.  But  a  government  founded 
on  despotism,  without  the  consent  of  the  people,  usurps  a 
power  over  the  community,  to  command  them  at  pleasure; 
and  yet  even  despotism  rarely  intermeddles  with  the  private 
rights  and  duties  of  citizens.  The  slaveholder,  as  to  his 
usurpation  of  power,  ranks  with  the  worst  of  tyrants ;  but 
in  the  administration  of  that  power  he  far  exceeds  the 
tyrant.  Hence,  slavery  is  a  flagrant  breach  of  the  fifth 
commandment ;  nor  will  any  thing  that  can  be  said  under 
the  head  of  the  relation  of  master  and  servant  overturn  this 
conclusion,  because  servant  and  slave  are  as  different  in 
their  meaning,  in  common  acceptation,  as  any  two  words 
can  be.  The  servant  is  one  who  voluntarily  consents  to 
serve  another  for  wages.  The  slave  is  one  who  is  in  the 
power  of  his  master,  and  is  always  made  a  slave  by  theft 
or  robbery,  and  receives  no  wages  from  his  master;  and 
though  there  are  duties  enjoined  on  slaves,  in  reference 
to  their  masters,  they  are  such  duties  as  are  enjoined  on 
Christians  toward  persecutors,  or  those  who  maltreat  them ; 
or  if  there  are  duties  even  enjoined  on  slaves  and  their 
masters  reciprocally,  they  are  such  as  would  terminate 
immediately  or  shortly  in  the  emancipation  of  the  slave. 
Where  are  rules  and  duties  laid  down  respecting  the  just 
and  religious  mode  of  stealing  or  robbing  men?  Not  in 
Scripture.  On  the  other  hand,  the  very  acts  by  which 
slaves  are  made  such,  or  continued  such,  are  capital  offen- 
ses, and  to  be  punished  with  death.  He  that  stealeth  a 
man,  or  sells  a  stolen  man,  or  retains  a  stolen  man  in  his 
possession,  is  to  be  put  to  death.  The  moral  sense  of 
British  and  American  laws  have  so  decided,  hi  pronouncing 
the  man  a  pirate,  and  therefore  worthy  of  death,  who 
steals,  robs,  or  sells  men.  The  application  of  the  same 
Scriptural  rule  against  theft  and  robbery  would  do  the  same 
37* 


318         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

with  every  man  who  now  voluntarily  buys,  sells,  or  holds 
children  in  slavery ;  and  this  is  the  crying  sin  of  the  United 
States ;  for,  as  far  as  the  slaves  are  concerned,  it  is  the  same 
to  them,  whether  their  mothers  were  free  or  bond,  when 
they  are  violently  seized,  as  soon  as  born,  and  are  feloni- 
ously, violently,  and  barbarously  enslaved. 

6.  Slavery  is  a  direct  violation  of  the  sixth  command- 
ment: "Thou  shalt  not  kill." 

The  slave  laws  neither  protect  sufficiently  the  lives  of  the 
slaves  nor  inflict  punishment,  to  any  efficient  extent,  on 
those  who  take  away  the  lives  of  slaves.  In  North  Caro- 
lina "any  person  may  lawfully  kill  a  slave  who  has  been 
outlawed  for  running  away  and  lurking  in  the  swamps." 
(Stroud,  p.  103.)  By  a  law  of  South  Carolina  "a  slave 
endeavoring  to  entice  another  slave  to  run  away,  if  provi- 
sions, etc.,  be  prepared  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  such 
running  away,  shall  be  punished  with  death;  and  a  slave 
who  shall  aid  the  slave  so  endeavoring  to  entice  another 
slave  to  run  away,  shall  also  suffer  death."  (Stroud,  pp. 
103,  104.)  Another  law  of  the  same  state  provides,  "that, 
if  a  slave,  when  absent  from  the  plantation,  refuse  to  be 
examined  by  any  white  person,  such  white  person  may  seize 
and  chastise  him;  and  if  the  slave  shall  strike  such  white 
person,  such  slave  may  be  lawfully  killed."  According  to 
the  Georgia  laws,  if  a  slave  shall  strike  a  white  person,  for 
the  first  offense  he  may  be  punished  so  as  to  save  life  and 
limb,  and  for  the  second  offense  the  penalty  is  death ;  and 
the  instances  of  death  inflicted  violently,  under  the  rule  of 
"moderate  correction,"  would  make  a  long  list  indeed,  pro- 
vided they  were  collected.  The  following  items  will  present 
the  murderous  character  in  its  true,  though  not  an  exagger- 
ated, light: 

(1.)  Slavery  is  founded  on  violence,  to  which  unless  he 
submit,  the  slave  would  be  liable  to  suffer  death ;  that  is,  he 
would  be  beaten  and  abused,  in  order  to  compel  him  to 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.         319 

submit;  and  should  he  continue  to  refuse,  the  floggings, 
mutilations,  and  various  modes  of  punishments,  must  ter- 
minate in  death.  Therefore,  slavery  is  founded  on,  and 
exists  by,  murder ;  and  murder  is  essential  to  its  existence. 
The  robber,  who  spares  life  on  condition  of  obtaining  money, 
is  a  murderer  in  the  sight  of  God. 

(2.)  Slavery  is  continued  by  murderous  measures  and 
acts. 

If  slaves  attempt  to  run  away  themselves,  or  aid  others  to 
run  away,  they  are  murdered  outright,  unless  they  can  be 
captured.  If  they  attempt  to  emancipate  themselves  by 
force,  death  would  be  their  portion,  according  to  the  laws 
of  the  slave  states ;  so  that  murder  is  necessary  to  continue 
slavery. 

(3.)  Murder  is  not  only  theoretically  interwoven  with 
slavery,  but  it  is  practically  carried  out  by  numerous  mur- 
derous principles,  measures,  acts,  disabilities,  privations,  etc. 
There  are  few  slave  settlements  in  which  there  is  not  a 
number  of  instances  of  slaves  suffering  death,  in  such  a  way 
that,  in  God's  account,  it  will  be  accounted  murder,  caused 
by  cruel  beating,  want  of  clothing,  hunger,  hard  labor,  in- 
human usage. 

(4.)  Indeed,  slavery,  in  several  important  respects,  is 
much  more  aggravated  than  a  common  act  of  murder. 
The  sin  of  murder  is  not  restricted  to  the  mere  act  of 
depriving  a  person  of  life ;  but  it  is  depriving  the  innocent 
persons  of  the  enjoyments,  and  privileges,  and  advantages 
of  life.  Voluntary  slaveholding  is  a  crime,  which  not  only 
deprives  the  slave  of  civil  liberty,  but  also  prevents  him 
from  answering  the  moral  end  of  his  existence  by  the  ac- 
quisition of  knowledge ;  it  hinders  his  usefulness  to  society, 
and  keeps  him  from  attaining  respectability  among  mankind, 
while  he  is  reduced  to  a  state  of  contempt  and  wretched- 
ness ;  therefore,  slaveholders  who  keep  their  fellow-creatures 
in  the  true  condition  of  slaves,  are  guilty  of  a  greater  crime, 


320         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

in  some  respects,  than  if  they  would  kill  them  all  in  infancy. 
A  common  act  of  murder  takes  away  the  life,  but  it  may 
not  affect  the  eternal  state.  But  the  slaveholder  materially 
injures  both  soul  and  body,  for  time  and  eternity.  They 
subject  the  slaves  to  a  state  of  misery,  ignorance,  contempt, 
and  wretchedness,  which  is  worse  than  to  kill  them  in 
infancy;  and  in  their  last  will  entail  the  same  hereditary 
cruelty  and  wretchedness  on  the  slaves  and  their  posterity 
to  the  end  of  time. 

(5.)  On  the  murderous  character  of  slavery,  let  us  hear 
what  eye  and  ear  witnesses  have  to  say. 

The  Rev.  James  O 'Kelly,  a  Virginian,  who  wrote  an 
"Essay  on  Negro  Slavery,"  in  1789,  declares:  "A  slave  is 
looked  upon  as  the  property  of  the  master,  who  is  his  own 
legislator — as  touching  the  slave — to  curse,  abuse,  drive 
rigorously,  sell,  change,  give,  etc.  Yea,  beat  without, re- 
striction, mark,  brand,  and  castrate  him;  and  even  when 
life  is  taken  away,  it  is  but  little  regarded.  Perhaps  there 
may  be  a  small  stir  if  one  is  murdered ;  but  it  is  nothing  but 
a  sham  inquisition !  His  wife  and  children— if  slaves — are 
all  salable  property ;  so  that  the  slave  can  not  say  that  even 
his  life  is  his  own."  (Rev.  James  O'Kelly,  on  Negro  Slavery, 
Philadelphia,  1789.) 

The  Rev.  John  Rankin,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  fa- 
miliar with  all  the  workings  of  slavery,  in  his  Letters  on 
Slavery,  p.  56,  says :  "  In  spite  of  all  law,  slaveholders  have 
the  power  of  life  and  death  over  their  slaves.  And  some 
of  them  do  exercise  such  power  with  perfect  impunity.  It 
is  seldom  that  even  so  much  as  a  prosecution  is  incurred  by 
murdering  them ;  and  I  do  not  recollect  of  ever  hearing  of 
a  single  individual  being  executed  for  taking  the  life  of  a 
slave.  I  am  persuaded  there  is  as  much  humane  feeling  in 
Fleming  county,  Kentucky,  as  can  be  found  in  any  slave- 
holding  section  of  country,  of  the  same  extent ;  and  I  think 
this  will  be  readily  admitted  by  all  who  are  acquainted  with 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  321 

the  people  of  that  county ;  and  yet  there  is  a  certain  indi- 
vidual, in  consequence  of  an  unjust  suspicion,  [who]  fell  upon 
his  poor  old  slave,  beat  him  on  the  face,  and  mashed  it  in 
such  a  manner  as  soon  terminated  his  life;  yet  by  it  he 
incurred  not  so  much  as  a  prosecution!  I  mention  this 
case,  not  because  it  is  either  singular  or  novel,  but  because 
it  happened  in  one  of  the  most  humane  sections  of  one  of 
the  mildest  slaveholding  countries,  and  therefore  is  well 
calculated  to  show  what  is  the  real  state  of  things,  even 
where  slavery  wears  the  mildest  aspect.  It  shows  that  the 
system  of  slavery  in  its  best  form  is  fraught  with  the  most 
horrid  murders." 

(6.)  The  instances  of  atrocious  murders  of  slaves  by  their 
masters  would  fill  volumes.  We  must  therefore  confine 
ourselves  to  a  few,  which  we  adduce  merely  as  specimens 
out  of  the  legions  which  could  be  selected.  Take  the  fol- 
lowing, on  the  testimony  of  Rev.  James  O'Kelly : 

"  A  master  who  drank  to  excess,  one  morning,  lately,  took 
his  man-slave,  and  hoisted  and  weighed  him  by  a  tobacco 
beam  fixed  between  his  legs,  another  standing  on  the  beam 
to  increase  the  pain ;  beat,  cut,  and  lashed  him  till  the  blood 
poured  down  in  streams.  The  slave  begged  for  mercy,  but 
in  vain ;  then  spoke  in  a  soft  manner  to  the  tyrant,  saying, 
'  Master,  you  have  killed  me !'  He  then  lifted  up  his  eyes 
to  heaven,  and  expired. 

"  Those  murderers  are  still  spared,  and  slavery  tolerated, 
in  our  free  United  States!  The  land  is  a  mere  aceldama: 
the  earth  and  all  we  possess  is  stained  with  blood.  Dear 
Zion,  too,  is  built  up  with  blood.  These  poor  outcasts  of 
men  have  no  kind  of  law  to  protect  them  from  abuse  of 
every  kind,  or  to  allow  them  some  small  pittance  for  a  life 
of  hard  labor.  Do  not  call  a  few  rags  and  coarse  bread 
hire.  Life  itself  is  not  protected  as  it  ought  to  be.  A 
white  man's  character  is  regarded  more  than  the  life  of  a 
slave !  This  is  but  a  very  short  narrative  of  the  miserable 


322         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

consequences  of  slavery."     (Essay  on  Negro  Slavery,  by 
Rev.  James  O'Kelly,  p.  9.) 

(7.)  Advertisements  in  the  public  papers,  calling  for  the 
murder  of  slaves,  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  southern 
papers.  Such  is  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  the  south 
that  slaveholders  are  not  ashamed  to  call  themselves  mur- 
derers, though  they  may  substitute  the  terms,  death,  or 
kill,  for  murder. 

"  Two  hundred  dollars  reward. — Ran  away  from  the  sub- 
scriber, about  three  years  ago,  a  negro  man  named  Ben; 
also  one  other  negro,  by  the  name  of  Rigdan,  who  ran  away 
about  the  Sth  of  this  month.  I  will  give  the  above-named 
reward  of  $100  for  each  of  the  above  negroes,  etc.,  or  for 
the  killing  of  them,  so  that  I  can  see  them. 

"W.  D.  COBB. 

"Nov.  12,  1836." 

From  the  Wilmington  (N.  C.)  Advertiser,  June  1,  1838 : 

"  One  hundred  dollars  is  subscribed,  and  will  be  punctually 
paid  by  the  citizens  of  Auslaw,  to  any  person  who  may 
safely  confine  in  any  jail  in  this  state,  a  certain  negro  man, 
named  Alfred.  The  same  reward  will  be  paid,  if  satisfactory 
evidence  is  given  of  his  having  been  KILLED.  He  has  one 
or  more  SCARS,  caused  by  his  having  been  SHOT. 

"THE  CITIZENS  OF  AUSLAW." 

In  the  same  paper  is  the  following  advertisement,  offering 
a  reward  to  any  one  who  will  murder  a  husband  for 
endeavoring  to  join  his  wife: 

"  Ran  away,  my  negro  man  Richard.  A  reward  of  $25 
will  be  paid  for  his  apprehension,  DEAD  OR  ALIVE.  Satis- 
factory proof  will  only  be  required  of  his  being  KILLED. 
He  has  with  him,  in  all  probability,  his  wife  Eliza,  who  ran 
away  from  Colonel  Thompson,  now  a  resident  of  Alabama, 
about  the  tune  he  commenced  his  journey  to  that  state. 
"DURANT  H.  RHODES." 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  323 

From  the  Macon  (Ga.,)  Telegraph,  May  28,  1838: 

"  About  the  first  of  March  last,  the  negro  man  Ransam 
left  me,  without  the  least  provocation  whatever.  I  will  give 
a  reward  of  twenty  dollars  for  said  negro,  if  taken  DEAD  OR 
ALIVE;  and  if  killed  in  any  attempt,  an  advance  of  five 
dollars  will  be  paid.  BRYANT  JOHNSON. 

"  Crawford  county,  Ga" 

From  the  Newbern  (N.  C.)  Spectator,  January  5,  1838: 

"Ran  away  from  the  subscriber,  a  negro  man  named 
Sampson.  Fifty  dollars  reward  will  be  given  for  the  delivery 
of  him  to  me,  or  his  confinement  in  any  jail  so  that  I  can  get 
him ;  and  should  he  resist  in  being  taken,  so  that  violence 
is  necessary  to  arrest  him,  I  will  not  hold  any  person  liable 
for  damages  should  the  slave  be  killed.  ENOCH  FAY." 

"  Jones  county,  N.  C" 

From  the  Macon  (Ga.)  Messenger,  June  14,  1838 : 

"  To  the  Owners  of  Runaway  Negroes. — A  large  mulatto 
negro  man,  between  thirty-five  and  forty  years  old,  about  six 
feet  in  hight,  having  a  high  forehead,  and  hair  slightly  gray, 
was  KILLED,  near  my  plantation,  on  the  9th  instant.  He  would 
not  surrender,  but  assaulted  Mr.  Barnen,  who  killed  him  in 
self-defense.  If  the  owner  desires  further  information  rela- 
tive to  the  death  of  his  negro,  he  can  obtain  it  by  letter,  or 
by  caDing  on  the  subscriber,  ten  miles  south  of  Perry, 
Houston  county.  EDMUND  JAS.  M'GEHEE." 

(8.)  The  burning  of  negroes,  in  the  most  barbarous  man- 
ner, is  not  very  uncommon  in  slave  states. 

April  28,  1836,  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  a  black 
man,  named  M'Intosh,  who  had  stabbed  an  officer  that  had 
arrested  him,  was  seized  by  the  multitude,  fastened  to  a  tree 
in  the  midst  of  the  city,  in  daylight,  and  in  the  presence  of 
a  great  throng  of  citizens,  was  inhumanly  burned  to  death. 
The  Alton  (HI.)  Telegraph  describes,  as  follows,  the  scene: 
(See  American  Slavery,  p.  155-157.  New  York,  1839.) 


324         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

"All  was  silent  while  they  were  piling  wood  around  their 
victim;  when  the  flames  seized  upon  him  he  uttered  an 
awful  howl,  attempted  to  sing  and  pray,  and  then  hung  his 
head  and  suffered  in  silence,  except  in  the  following  instance : 
After  the  flames  had  surrounded  their  prey,  his  eyes  burnt 
out  of  his  head,  and  his  mouth  seemingly  parched  to  a 
cinder,  some  one  hi  the  crowd  proposed  to  put  an  end  to  his 
misery  by  shooting  him,  when  it  was  replied,  '  that  would  be 
of  no  use,  since  he  was  already  out  of  pain.'  'No,  no,' 
said  the  wretch,  'I  am  suffering  as  much  as  ever;  shoot 
me,  shoot  me.'  '  No,  no,'  said  one, '  he  shall  not  be  shot.  / 
would  sooner  slacken  the  fire,  if  that  would  increase  his 
misery;'  and  the  man  who  said  this  was,  as  we  understand, 

an  OFFICER  OF  JUSTICE." 

The  St.  Louis  correspondent  of  a  New  York  paper  adds : 
"The  shrieks  and  groans  of  the  victim  were  loud  and 
piercing,  and  to  observe  one  limb  after  another  drop  into 
the  fire  was  awful  indeed.  I  visited  the  place  this  morning ; 
only  a  part  of  his  head  and  body  was  left." 

Hon.  Luke  E.  Lawless,  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Missouri,  at  its  session,  in  St.  Louis,  some  months  after, 
decided  that,  since  the  burning  of  M'Intosh  was  the  act, 
directly  or  by  countenance,  of  a  majority  of  citizens,  it  is  a 
"case  which  transcends  the  jurisdiction  of  the  grand  jury  !" 

The  New  Orleans  Post,  of  June  7,  1836,  publishes  the 
following : 

"  We  understand  that  a  negro  man  was  lately  condemned, 
by  the  mob,  to  be  BURNED  OVER  A  SLOW  FIRE,  which  was 
put  into  execution  at  Grand  Gulf,  Mississippi,  for  murdering 
a  black  woman  and  her  master." 

"  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  June  20,  1827.— Last  week  a  Mr. 
M'Neilly  charged  a  slave  with  theft.  M'Neilly  and  his 
brother  seized  him,  and  were  about  to  chastise  him,  when 
the  negro  stabbed  M'Neilly.  The  negro  was  taken  before 
a  justice,  who  waived  his  authority.  A  crowd  collected,  and 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  325 

he  acted  as  president  of  the  mob,  and  put  the  vote,  when  it 
was  decided  he  should  be  immediately  burnt  to  death.  He 
was  led  to  the  tree,  a  large  quantity  of  pine  knots  placed 
around  him,  the  fatal  torch  applied  to  the  pile,  and  the 
miserable  being  was  in  a  short  time  burned  to  ashes.  This 
is  the  SECOND  negro  who  has  been  THUS  put  to  death,  with- 
out judge  or  jury,  in  this  county."  (African  Observer,  for 
August,  1827.) 

"The  slave  William,  who  murdered  his  master  some 
weeks  since,  and  several  negroes,  was  taken  by  a  party  a 
few  days  since,  from  the  sheriff,  at  Hot  Spring,  and  burnt 
alive !  yes,  tied  up  to  the  limb  of  a  tree,  a  fire  built  under 
him,  and  consumed  in  slow  and  lingering  torture."  (Ar- 
kansas Gazette.) 

(9.)  But  burning  slowly  to  death,  either  without  judge  or 
jury,  or  by  mob  violence,  is  far  outdone  by  new  and  addi- 
tional cruelties,  which  declare  what  is  the  true  spirit  of 
slavery  and  its  legitimate  practices. 

"Aiken,  S.  C.,  Dec.  20,  1836. 

"  To  THE  EDITORS  OF  THE  CONSTITUTIONALIST, — I  have  just 
returned  from  an  inquest  I  held  over  the  dead  body  of  a 
negro  man,  a  runaway,  that  was  shot  near  the  South  Edisto, 
in  this  district,  (Barnwell,)  on  Saturday  morning  last  He 
came  to  his  death  by  his  own  recklessness.  He  refused  to 
be  taken  alive,  and  said  that  other  attempts  to  take  him  had 
been  made,  and  he  was  determined  that  he  would  not  be 
taken.  When  taken  he  was  nearly  naked,  had  a  large  dirk, 
or  knife,  and  a  heavy  club.  He  was  at  first — when  those 
who  were  in  pursuit  of  him  found  it  absolutely  necessary — 
shot  at  with  small  shot,  with  the  intention  of  merely  crip- 
pling him.  He  was  shot  at  several  times,  and  at  last  he 
was  so  disabled  as  to  be  compelled  to  surrender.  He  kept 
in  the  run  of  a  creek,  in  a  very  dense  swamp,  all  the  time 
that  the  neighbors  were  in  pursuit  of  him.  As  soon  as  the 
negro  was  taken,  the  best  medical  aid  was  procured ;  but 
28 


826         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

he  died  on  the  same  evening.  One  of  the  witnesses  at  the 
inquisition  stated  that  the  negro  boy  said  that  he  was  from 
Mississippi,  and  belonged  to  so  many  persons  he  did  not 
know  who  his  master  was.  But  again  he  said  his  master's 
name  was  Brown.  He  said  his  own  name  was  Sam ;  and 
when  asked  by  another  witness  who  his  master  was,  he  mut- 
tered something  like  Augusta  or  Augustine.  The  boy  was 
apparently  about  thirty-five  or  forty  years  of  age ;  about  six 
feet  high ;  slightly  yellow  in  the  face ;  very  long  beard  or 
whiskers ;  and  very  stout  built,  and  a  stern  countenance ; 
and  appeared  to  have  been  runaway  a  long  time. 

"  WILLIAM  H.  PRITCHARD, 
"  Coroner  (ex-officio)  Barnwell  district,  S.  C. 

"The  Mississippi  and  other  papers  will  please  copy  the 
above."  (Georgia  Constitutionalist.) 

"Execution  of  the  negro  Joseph. — The  body  was  taken 
and  chained  to  a  tree  immediately  on  the  bank  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, on  what  is  called  Union  Point.  The  torches  were 
lighted  and  placed  in  the  pile.  He  watched,  unmoved,  the 
curling  flame  as  it  grew,  till  it  began  to  entwine  itself 
around  and  feed  upon  his  body ;  then  he  sent  forth  cries  of 
agony,  painful  to  the  ear,  begging  some  one  to  blow  his 
brains  out,  at  the  same  time  struggling  with  almost  super- 
human strength,  till  the  staple  with  which  the  chain  was 
fastened  to  the  tree,  not  being  well  secured,  drew  out,  and 
he  leaped  from  the  burning  pile.  At  that  moment  the  sharp 
ring  of  several  rifles  was  heard,  and  the  body  of  the  negro 
fell  a  corpse  to  the  ground.  He  was  picked  up  by  two  or 
three,  and  again  thrown  into  the  fire  and  consumed." 
(Natchez  Free  Trader,  June  16,  1842.) 

(10.)  Suicidal  deaths  by  negroes,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
cruelties  of  slavery,  are  far  from  being  solitary.  A  few  out 
of  the  many  instances  may  be  given,  barely  to  show  the 
murderous  workings  of  the  system. 

"  Voluntary  death. — A  colored  man,  acting  as  steward  on 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  327 

board  the  Selma,  was  drowned  at  New  Orleans  under  the 
following  peculiar  circumstances.  The  negro,  it  seems,  was 
a  runaway  slave,  who  had,  by  some  means,  obtained  a  set 
of  free  papers,  and,  under  the  character  of  a  free  man,  had 
been  employed  on  several  boats,  but  lastly  on  the  Selma. 
The  owner  detected  him  on  the  boat,  and  seized  hold  of 
him  to  prevent  His  escape ;  but  the  negro,  after  a  desperate 
struggle,  succeeded  in  disengaging  himself,  and  running  to 
the  wheel-house,  jumped  down  into  the  water,  where  it  is 
believed  he  voluntarily  drowned  himself." 

Mr.  Rankin,  in  his  Letters,  pp.  45-47,  gives  an  account 
of  six  young  African  girls,  who  all  hung  themselves  hi 
order  to  get  rid  of  the  cruelties  of  slavery. 

(11.)  The  murderous  workings  of  the  slave  system  will 
be  further  manifested,  in  surveying  that  numerous  class  of 
instances  in  which  slaves,  under  the  views  and  convictions 
of  just  retaliation,  have  murdered  their  masters.  Nor  is  it 
marvelous,  that,  both  as  acts  of  defense  as  well  as  of  re- 
venge, they  would  treat  their  masters  as  they  themselves 
have  been  treated. 

In  August,  1836,  a  negro,  in  Vicksburg,  killed  his  mas- 
ter, because  the  master,  who  owned  the  negro's  wife,  was 
in  the  habit  of  sleeping  with  her.  The  negro  said  he  had 
killed  his  master,  and  would  be  rewarded  in  heaven  for 
doing  so.  The  negro,  without  judge  or  jury,  was  inhu- 
manly butchered.  (See  American  Slavery,  p.  157.) 

"Murder  by  a  Negro. — Mr.  William  Avery,  overseer  of 
the  plantation  of  James  M'Connel,  in  Marshal  county,  Mis- 
sissippi, was  murdered  by  a  negro,  on  the  29th  of  May. 
Mr.  A.  was  in  tfie  act  of  correcting  the  negro's  wife,  when 
he  was  knocked  down  by  a  bludgeon  and  beaten  to  death. 
Mr.  A.  was  a  humane  and  kind  overseer,  and  the  character 
of  the  negro  without  previous  reproach;  he  is  now  in 
Raleigh  jail  awaiting  his  certain  death."  (Memphis  paper.) 

"Peter  was  the  slave  of  Mr.  James  Douglass,  of  Dade 


828         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

county,  Missouri,  who  murdered  three  of  his  own  children 
sooner  than  leave  them  in  slavery;  attempted  suicide  by 
cutting  his  own  throat,  attempted  to  murder  his  master, 
and  actually  murdered  his  mistress  in  the  spring  of  1848. 
Peter  was  a  Baptist  preacher  of  considerable  talent.  He 
was  taken  from  Kentucky  to  Tennessee,  and  from  there  to 
Missouri,  and  was  several  times  promised  his  liberty  by  his 
master,  but  the  promise  was  never  fulfilled.  Peter  and  his 
wife  agreed  that  it  would  be  better  for  them  and  their 
children  to  be  all  killed  than  to  be  in  slavery.  At  bed- 
time, when  seated  at  the  fire,  when  his  wife  and  children 
were  in  bed,  he  was  musing  on  what  he  should  do.  His 
wife  asked  him  if  he  were  asleep.  He  answered,  'No,  I 
am  not  asleep.'  His  wife  said:  'Take  up  Mark  and  lay 
him  upon  the  bed  with  Eli  and  John,  and  leave  Flem  with 
me,  and  put  the  children  away  [kill  them]  before  you  go 
yourself.'  Peter  said,  'You  could  not  bear  to  see  me  kill 
the  children?'  She  answered,  'Yes  I  could;  and  if  I  make 
any  noise  or  say  one  word,  you  may  blow  me  through. 
They  will  never  be  any  satisfaction  to  me  any  way.  You 
will  be  dead,  and  they  will  be  left  here  to  suffer  for  it.'  At 
this  Peter,  leaving  Flem,  the  infant,  took  up  Mark,  a  boy 
about  three  years  of  age,  and,  after  kissing  him,  buried  a 
razor  in  his  neck,  from  the  wound  of  which,  after  some 
struggles,  he  died.  He  then  took  Eli  and  John,  the  one 
eight  and  the  other  six  years  of  age,  both  of  whom  pleaded 
for  their  lives.  He  told  them  that  he  himself  was  going  to 
die,  and  asked  them  if  they  would  not  go  with  him.  Eli 
asked,  'Is  ma  going  too?'  His  mother  replied,  'Yes,  ma 
and  all  are  going.'  The  reply  of  the  mother  reconciled  the 
children  to  their  fate.  The  mother  assisted  in  placing  the 
two  boys  side  by  side,  and  in  tying  a  bandage  around  their 
eyes.  The  father  leveled  a  loaded  gun  at  their  heads,  at 
the  fire  of  which  they  both  fell ;  but  not  dying  as  soon 
as  desired,  he  afterward  cut  their  throats.  He  attempted 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.         329 

then  to  destroy  himself  with  a  gun  and  razor,  but  failed  in 
the  attempt.  He  next  killed  his  mistress  and  attempted  to 
kill  his  master,  on  interfering  with  his  attempts  to  kill  him- 
self and  children."  (See  the  Funeral  address  of  the  Rev. 
Perry  B.  Marple,  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  the  execution 
of  Peter,  at  Bade  Court-House,  Mo.,  May  26,  1848,  pp. 
28,  octavo.) 

7.  Slavery  is  a  violation  of  the  seventh  commandment, 
which  is,  "  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery." 

Slavery  places  the  slaves  entirely  in  the  power  of  their 
masters,  to  be  sold  and  bought  by  new  masters  either  in 
their  own  neighborhood  or  at  a  distance.  And  every 
female  slave  is  completely  in  the  power  of  her  master,  of 
his  sons,  his  overseers,  and  his  driver,  or,  in  short,  of  any 
white  man.  The  law  does  not  allow  the  female  slave  to 
offer  resistance  to  any  white  man,  under  any  circumstances. 
Besides,  female  virtue  on  the  part  of  the  slave  is  treated 
with  ridicule  in  a  slave  community. 

By  the  separation  of  man  and  wife,  marriage  ties  are 
constantly  sundered,  and  new  alliances  are  continually 
formed.  The  persons  separated  contract  new  marriages, 
and  so  commit  adultery.  "Whosoever  shall  put  away  his 
wife,  saving  for  the  cause  of  fornication,  causeth  her  to 
commit  adultery;  and  whosoever  shall  marry  her  that  is 
divorced,  committeth  adultery,"  Matt,  v,  32.  On  the  part 
of  the  man  there  is  separation  from  the  former  wife,  and 
an  adulterous  connection  with  another,  thus  constituting 
twofold  adultery.  It  is  the  same  with  the  woman.  Hence, 
there  is  a  fourfold  adultery.  This  takes  place  on  every 
new  severance  and  new  marriage.  Some  men,  by  frequent 
separations,  may  have  several  living  wives,  and  some  women 
may  have  several  living  husbands. 

And  when  no  separations  may  take  place,  as  above,  the 
power  of  white  persons  over  the  slaves  places  every  col- 
ored female  slave  entirely  under  the  power  of  the  master, 
28* 


330         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

his  sons,  overseer,  or  any  other  white  man.  Often,  too, 
masters  are  fathers  of  the  colored  children  of  the  mother 
and  daughters,  or  even  of  their  own  daughters.  Brothers 
often  have  forbidden  connection  with  their  own  sisters ;  to 
say  nothing  of  fathers  holding  and  selling  their  own  chil- 
dren as  slaves,  and  brothers  and  sisters  having  brothers 
and  sisters  for  slaves. 

The  wealth  of  some  slave  states  arises  principally  from 
slave-breeding.  It  is  an  object,  too,  to  have  young  slaves 
as  light-colored  as  possible,  because  mulatto  slaves  bring  a 
higher  price  than  black  slaves  ;  hence,  licentiousness  in  slave 
states  becomes  a  profitable  instead  of  an  expensive  sin,  as  it 
is  under  other  forms  of  society.  Read  the  following : 

"A  Valuable  Slave. — A  very  beautiful  girl,  belonging 
to  the  estate  of  John  French,  a  deceased  gambler  at  New 
Orleans,  was  sold,  a  few  days  since,  for  the  round  sum  of 
seven  thousand  dollars.  An  ugly-looking  bachelor,  named 
Gouch,  a  member  of  the  council  of  one  of  the  municipali- 
ties, was  the  purchaser.  The  Picayune  says,  that  the  girl 
was  a  brunette,  remarkable  for  her  beauty  and  intelligence; 
and  that  there  was  considerable  contention  who  should  be 
the  purchaser.  She  was,  however,  persuaded  to  accept 
Gouch,  he  having  made  her  princely  promises."  (New- 
York  Evening  Sun.) 

Case  of  the  Edmondson  Sisters. — These  were  destined 
for  the  New  Orleans  market,  to  be  sold  as  mistresses  there. 
Their  price  was-  two  thousand,  two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars, owing  to  their  beauty  and  youth.  After  much  effort, 
they  were  redeemed  from  a  life  of  infamy  by  the  benevo- 
lence of  the  people  of  New  York  principally.  The  girls 
were  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
were  destined  by  their  owners  for  prostitution. 

The  process  of  amalgamation  has  advanced  rapidly  in 
the  slave  states,  as  white  persons  are  frequently  the  fathers 
of  the  children.  After  a  few  generations  more,  if  this 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  331 

wicked  course  be  pursued,  the  colored  blood  will  generally 
disappear. 

The  refusal  of  some  conscientious  persons  to  separate 
man  and  wife,  and  their  laudable  endeavors  to  repress  the 
viciousness  of  slavery,  have  presented  feeble,  or  rather 
powerless  barriers  against  the  general  tide  of  corruption,  so 
that  its  progress  is  on  the  advance,  rather  than  on  the 
decline.  Besides,  though  such  masters  should  be  ever  so 
tender  of  their  slaves,  during  their  lifetime,  yet,  when  they 
die  without  emancipating  them,  they  entail  hereditary  bond- 
age on  them  and  their  posterity  forever,  with  all  the  aggra- 
vating circumstances  of  adultery,  which  necessarily  belongs 
to  slavery. 

8.  Slavery  is  a  violation  of  the  eighth  commandment, 
which  is,  "Thou  shalt  not  steal." 

According  to  the  Larger  Catechism  of  the  Westminster 
divines,  whose  explanation  of  the  ten  commandments  is, 
perhaps,  the  most  complete  in  the  world,  and  which  is  the 
interpretation  of  the  decalogue  held  by  all  Presbyterian 
Churches,  the  following  views  are  given  of  theft,  in  defining 
what  is  enjoined  and  what  is  forbidden  in  the  eighth  com- 
mandment. Among  the  duties  required  are  the  following : 
"rendering  to  every  man  according  to  his  due,"  Rom.  xiii, 
7 ;  "  restitution  of  goods  unlawfully  detained  from  the  right 
owners  thereof,"  Lev.  vi,  4,  5.  Among  the  sins  forbidden 
in  the  eighth  commandment  are  the  following :  "  theft,  rob- 
bery, man-stealing,  and  receiving  any  thing  that  is  stolen." 

Bishop  Hopkins,  in  his  "Exposition  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments," which  is  as  unrivaled,  as  an  exposition,  as  the 
Larger  Catechism  is  as  an  explanation,  defines  theft  as 
follows,  (p.  68:)  "Theft  is  an  unjust  taking  or  keeping  to 
ourselves  what  is  lawfully  another  man's.  He  is  a  thief 
who  withholds  what  ought  to  be  in  his  neighbor's  posses- 
sion, as  well  as  he  who  takes  from  him  what  he  hath  for- 
merly possessed." 


832         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

Slaveholders,  by  St.  Paul,  (1  Tim.  i,  9,  10,)  are  called 
man-stealers,  or,  in  other  words,  the  stealers,  venders,  or 
holders  of  men  as  slaves :  "  Knowing  this,  that  the  law  is 
not  made  for  a  righteous  man,  but  for  the  lawless  and  diso- 
bedient, for  the  ungodly  and  for  sinners,  for  unholy  and 
profane,  for  murderers  of  fathers,  and  murderers  of  moth- 
ers, for  man-slayers,  for  whoremongers,  for  them  that  defile 
themselves  with  mankind,  for  men-stealers,  for  liars,  for 
perjured  persons,  and  if  there  be  any  other  thing  that  is 
contrary  to  sound  doctrine." 

The  Greek  word  av&partoSiotqs — andrapodistes — is  from 
ewSpartoSov — andrapodon — a  slave,  and  la-ftjfM,  to  stand,  mean- 
ing the  person  who  stands  over  the  conquered  or  subdued 
slave,  to  steal  him,  to  sell  him,  or  to  hold  him  as  a  slave. 
Bishop  Horsley  maintains  that  the  word  in  the  text  means 
"a  person  who  deals  in  men — literally  a  slave-trader."  So 
also  Dr.  Bloomfield.  And  that  man-stealer,  or  slave-dealer, 
in  guilt  and  sin,  is  synonymous  with  thief,  is  plain  from 
Exodus  xxi,  16,  where  the  thief,  the  vender,  or  the  holder 
of  a  stolen  man  is  condemned  as  equally  guilty,  and  to 
be  punished  with  death  equally  with  him  who  murders  a 
man,  or  with  him  who  strikes  or  curses  his  father  or  his 
mother. 

(1.)  Let  us  analyze  the  crime  of  theft,  to  discover  where- 
in its  principal  point  of  criminality  consists.  The  chief 
criminality  of  stealing  is  not  confined  to  the  mere  act  of 
taking  the  property  of  another,  which  may  be  lawfully 
done,  under  peculiar  circumstances.  The  crime  of  theft 
consists  in  taking  that  which  the  moral  law  recognizes  as 
another's  own,  without  that  individual  having  forfeited  it  by 
crime  or  debt.  It  amounts  to  the  same,  whether  a  person 
actually  takes  that  which  is  another  man's  right,  or  holds 
in  his  possession  or  uses  what  some  other  person  has  taken. 
The  possession  not  only  does  not  justify  the  original  theft 
or  fraud,  but  the  principal  criminality  lies  in  the  possession ; 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  333 

for  he  who  possesses  the  stolen  property  prevents  the  true 
owner  from  enjoying  it. 

The  moral  law  makes  no  difference  between  the  first  act 
of  theft  and  the  willful  possession  of  a  stolen  article,  whether 
of  goods  or  persons.  "  He  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth 
him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand,  shall  surely  be  put 
to  death,"  Ex.  xxi,  16.  "Whoso  is  partner  with  a  thief 
hateth  his  own  soul,"  Prov.  xxix,  24.  "  When  thou  sawest 
a  thief,  then  thou  consentedst  with  him,"  Psalm  1,  18. 

On  examining  slavery,  according  to  the  principles  con- 
tained in  the  eighth  commandment,  we  will  find,  that  it 
involves  the  breach  of  this  commandment,  in  the  most 
palpable  and  direct  manner.  According  to  the  Larger 
Catechism  it  involves  "theft,  robbery,  man-stealing,  and 
receiving  any  thing  that  is  stolen;"  or,  which  is  the  same, 
according  to  Bishop  Hopkins,  "  theft  is  an  unjust  taking  or 
keeping  to  ourselves  what  is  lawfully  another  man's.  He 
is  a  thief  who  withholds  what  ought  to  be  in  his  neighbor's 
possession." 

(2.)  Men  are  incapable  of  becoming  the  goods  and  chat- 
tels of  another,  because  all  men  are  naturally  free.  They 
are,  in  all  circumstances,  naturally,  and  necessarily,  and 
rightfully,  the  owners  of  themselves;  and  therefore,  no 
man  can  sell  himself;  nor  can  any  man  purchase  a  slave, 
except  by  unjust  and  fraudulent  principles  and  acts. 

The  distinguished  Judge  Blackstone  long  since  proved 
this  point,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  following  extract  from 
his  Commentaries,  (1  Black.  Com.,  424 :)  "It  is  said,  slavery 
may  begin  by  one  man's  selling  himself  to  another.  It  is 
true,  a  man  may  sell  himself  to  work  for  another;  but  he 
can  not  sell  himself  to  be  a  slave,  as  above  defined.  Every 
sale  implies  an  equivalent  given  to  the  seller,  in  lieu  of  what 
he  transfers  to  the  buyer ;  but  what  equivalent  can  he  give 
for  life  and  liberty  ?  His  property,  likewise,  with  the  very 
price  which  he  seems  to  receive,  devolves  to  his  master,  the 


334         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

moment  he  becomes  his  slave.  In  this  case,  therefore,  the 
buyer  gives  nothing.  Of  what  validity,  then,  can  a  law  be, 
which  destroys  the  very  principle  on  which  all  sales  are 
founded?" 

By  the  common  law,  if  the  consideration  of  a  contract 
fail,  the  contract  is  void.  Now,  were  a  man  to  sell  himself 
for  a  slave,  the  consideration  must  fail ;  for  the  money  or 
other  consideration  would,  as  well  as  the  slave  himself, 
belong  to  the  master  only ;  and  hence,  such  sales  would  be 
void,  by  common  law,  (1  Black.  Com.,  424,)  because  such 
rights  are  inalienable.  All  involuntary  sales  of  men  are 
simple  acts  of  high-handed  robbery,  at  common  law ;  and 
such  are  all  sales  of  slaves  hi  the  United  States. 

(3.)  Slaveholding  is  robbery. 

It  is  robbery,  because  it  is  an  instance  of  fraud  and  vio- 
lence without  the  shadow  of  justice.  It  robs  the  slave  of 
intellectual  improvement  and  religious  privileges,  except  at 
the  discretion  of  his  master.  It  robs  him  of  his  relatives 
and  friends.  It  robs  a  man  of  his  liberty,  his  wages,  and 
the  right  of  performing  relative  duties,  both  to  God 
and  man. 

Slavery  is  an  aggravation  of  the  sin  of  robbery,  far  beyond 
any  other  species  of  robbery.  If  it  be  a  crime  deserving 
corporeal  punishment  to  steal  a  part  of  a  man's  property,  it 
must  be  a  greater  crime  to  steal  it  all,  as  slavery  does. 
Other  kinds  of  robbery  commonly  deprive  a  man  only  of  his 
outward  substance;  but  slavery  robs  him  of  his  soul  and 
body — his  whole  person,  by  converting  the  man  into  a  chat- 
tel— a  thing — a  vendible  article — putting  him  in  the  market 
for  traffic.  Common  robbery  is  a  mere  transient  act;  but 
this  is  perpetual,  or  while  the  sufferer  lives.  As  the  slave- 
holder takes  away  the  liberty  of  the  slave  and  his  labor 
without  wages,  he  must  be  the  worst  of  all  robbers,  as  he 
by  violence  takes  away  soul,  body,  liberty,  property,  and  all 
those  rights  of  duty  which  the  slave  owes  both  to  God  and 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.  335 

man.  A  real  slaveholder  can  have  no  more  right  to  hon- 
esty or  good  moral  character  than  the  worst  swindlers, 
thieves,  or  robbers. 

According  to  the  common  law,  slavery  is  the  highest 
species  of  robbery.  It  is  as  much  worse  than  common 
robbery,  as  all  the  natural  rights  put  together  are  more 
valuable  than  personal  goods  and  chattels.  Common  rob- 
bery by  the  common  law  is  defined,  "the  taking  of  goods 
and  chattels  from  the  person  of  another,  by  putting  him  in 
fear."  (4  Blackstone's  Com.,  264.)  Slavery  is  robbery 
of  the  highest  kind,  for  it  takes  from  its  victims  all  their 
security,  liberty,  property,  and  other  rights,  by  putting  and 
keeping  the  slaves  in  fear.  At  common  law,  slaveholders 
are  criminals  of  different  kinds  and  in  various  degrees. 
Thousands  of  them  are  felons  deserving  of  capital  punish- 
ment, for  the  crimes  of  rape,  robbery,  mayhem,  and  murder, 
committed  on  innocent  persons,  as  they  are  accessories  to 
these  crimes.  (Vid.  4  Blackstone's  Com.,  195,  206,  210, 
etc.) 

(4.)  Slavery  is  theft.  There  is  certainly  great  relevancy 
in  applying  the  terms  thief,  man-stealer,  or  kidnapper,  to  the 
holder  of  men  as  slaves.  On  the  coast  of  Africa,  men  are 
made  slaves  by  open  robbery.  In  America  they  are  en- 
slaved, or  stolen  away  from  their  parents,  by  the  arts  of 
secrecy;  though  secrecy  is  not  an  essential  element  in  the 
guilt  of  theft,  it  is  an  almost  inseparable  adjunct.  And 
slaveholders  attach  the  utmost  importance  to  the  secrecy 
with  which  they  perpetrate  the  crime.  They  employ  the 
most  sleepless  vigilance  to  keep  the  slaves  ignorant  of 
their  rights,  being  persuaded  that  if  the  slaves  were  enlight- 
ened they  could  not  be  retained  in  bondage.  The  very 
education  of  the  slave  consists  principally  in  increasing  his 
ignorance.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  slaves  drudge 
on  till  death,  unconscious  of  their  proper  manhood,  thus 
furnishing  the  most  complete  instance  of  man-stealing. 


336         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

Their  very  wills  are  stolen.  If  the  slaves  could  all  know 
their  own  rights  and  powers,  they  would  soon  be  relieved 
from  slavery. 

It  seems  hard,  too,  we  acknowledge,  to  call  slaveholders 
by  the  names  of  thieves,  robbers,  and  man-stealers,  espe- 
cially as  many  of  them  are  enlightened  and  refined  persons. 
We  do  not  deny,  indeed,  that  many  slaveholders  are  enlight- 
ened, refined,  or  even  pious  persons ;  but  if  they  steal  men, 
or  hold  and  use  the  stolen  men  or  infants,  and  possess  the 
good  qualities  attributed  to  them,  then  they  are  simply 
enlightened,  refined,  and  pious  men-stealers.  A  man's 
good  character  may  come  in  as  probable  evidence  against 
a  charge  of  crime  while  the  fact  is  in  doubt,  but  after  the 
fact  is  demonstrated  or  confessed,  the  argument  of  good 
character  is  too  late.  The  fact  of  slaveholding  is  here  con- 
fessed, and  this  points  out  the  thief  or  man-stealer.  And 
while  men  hold  slaves  as  property,  no  other  terms  will  as 
well  express  their  real  character  as  man-stealer,  thief,  slave- 
holder, slave-dealer,  or  the  like.  And  such  are  the  very 
words  which  the  Holy  Ghost  employs  in  both  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  to  designate  the  true  character  of  him 
who  makes  merchandise  of  men,  whether  as  the  original 
thief,  the  vender,  buyer,  or  retainer  of  the  stolen  man. 

He  that  by  the  act  of  another,  whether  of  an  individual 
or  a  legislature,  becomes  the  legal  possessor  of  a  slave,  and 
retains  him  as  stolen  property,  with  the  intention  now  of 
restoring  him  to  his  liberty,  and  then  carrying  out  this 
holy  purpose,  is  not  chargeable  as  a  thief;  any  more  than 
the  man  is  who  receives  the  stolen  horse,  and  retains  him, 
not  as  his  own,  but  in  safe-keeping  till  he  can  put  the  proper 
owner  in  possession  of  him.  . 

Can   any  slave  conclude   in  his  mind  differently  from 
the  following,  from  the  Life  of  William  Brown,  p.  13,  ut-  . 
tered  by  himself,  on  commencing  his  narrative :  "  I  was   r 
born  in  Lexington,  Kentucky.     The  man  who  STOLE  ME  AS 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY.         337 

BOON  AS  I  WAS  BORN,  recorded  the  birth  of  all  the  infants, 
whom  he  claimed  to  be  born  as  his  property,  in  a  book 
which  he  kept  for  that  purpose." 

We  know  that  slaveholders  are  very  much  displeased  to 
be  called  by  the  names,  by  which  holy  Scripture  designates 
them,  such  as  thieves,  man-stealers,  etc.  If  so,  then  let 
them  take  the  only  remedy  for  the  disgrace,  which  was 
given  by  an  apostle:  "Let  him  that  stole  steal  no  more, 
but  rather  let  him  labor,"  etc.  Let  the  slaveholder  set  the 
slave  free,  and  betake  himself  to  honest  labor ;  and  then  no 
one  will  call  him  by  these  names,  as  they  would  then  mean 
just  nothing. 

(5.)  Slaveholding,  in  Scripture,  is  expressly  called  theft: 
"And  [they]  SOLD  Joseph  to  the  Ishmaelites  for  twenty 
pieces  of  silver;  and  they  brought  Joseph  into  Egypt," 
Gen.  xxxvii,  28.  "For  indeed  I  was  STOLEN  away  out  of 
the  land  of  the  Hebrews,"  Gen.  xl,  15.  These  two  pas- 
sages collated  show  that  slavery  is  theft,  and  he  that  sells  or 
buys  one  man  from  a  third  person  is  a  thief. 

Again  :  "  If  a  man  be  found  stealing  any  of  his  brethren 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  maketh  merchandise  of  him, 
or  selleth  him,  then  that  THIEF  shall  die,  and  thou  shalt  put 
away  evil  from  among  thee,"  Deut.  xxxiv,  7.  Here,  he 
who  steals,  makes  merchandise  of,  or  sells  a  man,  is  ex- 
pressly called  a  THIEF. 

(6.)  Holy  Scripture  places  equally  in  the  same  general 
class  of  criminals,  all  who  steal,  sell,  purchase,  or  hold  as  a 
slave,  a  human  being. 

"He  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be 
found  in  his  hand,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death,"  Ex. 
xxi,  16.  Here  death,  the  highest  punishment,  is  awarded 
against  the  person  who  held  the  stolen  man,  as  well  as 
against  him  who  originally  stole  him,  or  subsequently 
bought  or  sold  him. 

The  following  is  the  excellent  comment  of  Jarchi,  the 
29 


338         THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

distinguished  Jewish  commentator,  on  this  passage :  "  Using 
a  man  against  his  will,  as  a  servant  lawfully  purchased, 
yea,  though  he  should  use  his  services  ever  so  little,  only 
to  the  value  of  a  farthing,  or  use  but  his  arm  to  lean  on  to 
support  him,  if  he  be  FORCED  so  to  act  as  a  servant,  the 
person  compelling  him  but  once  to  do  so,  shall  die  as  a 
THIEF,  whether  he  has  sold  him  or  not." 

The  admirable  note  on  the  one  hundred  and  forty-second 
question  of  the  Larger  Catechism  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  was  inserted  by  authority  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  1794,  by  their  committee,  Dr.  A.  Green,  John  B. 
Smith,  James  Boyd,  Wm.  M.  Tennant,  N.  Irwin,  and  An- 
drew Hunter.  The  note  is  as  just  and  philological  now  as  it 
was  when  inserted,  although  the  slaveholders  could  not 
endure  it,  and,  therefore,  procured  its  rejection:  "1  Tim.  i, 
10.  The  law  is  made  for  man-stealers.  This  crime,  among 
the  Jews,  exposed  the  perpetrators  of  it  to  capital  punish- 
ment, (Ex.  xxi,  16,)  and  the  apostle  classes  them  with  sin- 
ners of  the  first  rank.  The  word  he  uses,  in  its  original 
import,  comprehends  all  who  are  concerned  in  bringing  any 
of  the  human  race  into  slavery,  or  retaining  them  in  it. 
ffominum  fares  qui  servos  vel  liberos  dbducunt,  retinent,  ven- 
dunt,  vel  emunt.  Stealers  of  men  are  all  those  who  bring 
off  slaves  or  freemen,  and  keep,  sell,  or  buy  them.  To  steal 
a  man,  says  Grotius,  is  the  highest  kind  of  theft.  In  other 
instances  we  only  steal  human  property ;  but  when  we  steal 
or  retain  men  in  slavery,  we  seize  those  who,  in  common 
Avith  ourselves,  are  constituted,  by  the  original  grant,  lords 
of  the  earth.  (Genesis  i,  28.  Vide  Poli  Synopsim  in 
loco.") 

(7.)  The  Mosaic  law  on  man-stealing,  (Ex.  xxi,  1C,)  is 
recognized  and  resanctioned  in  the  New  Testament  by  St. 
Paul:  "The  law  is  not  made  for  the  righteous  man,  but  for 
men-stealers,"  1  Tim.  i,  9,  10.  There  is  no  more  innocent 
way  of  making  slaves,  than  by  stealing  free  persons  for  this 


THE    DECALOGUE    AGAINST    SLAVERY.  339 

purpose.  Hence,  the  law  against  slavery  forbids  alike  every 
other  method  of  making  slaves  of  innocent  persons.  If 
men  were  held  under  the  Mosaic  law  as  property,  or  slaves, 
why  was  not  the  stealing  of  a  slave  punished  by  obliging 
the  thief  to  restore  four  or  more  slaves?  The  truth  is, 
slave-stealing  was  not  known  to  the  Mosaic  law,  because 
slaveholding  was  by  that  law  a  capital  crime.  The  servitude 
under  the  law  was  a  voluntary  one  on  the  part  of  the 
servant,  and  a  requited  service  on  the  part  of  the  master. 
Those  who  were  bought,  whether  Jews  or  heathen,  were 
bought  of  themselves;  and  what  they  sold  was  not  the 
ownership  of  themselves  and  their  posterity  forever,  but  of 
their  own  labor,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time ;  and  the 
longest  time  the  law  allowed  was  forty-nine  years. 

(8.)  Slavery  is  a  breach  of  the  eighth  commandment,  ac- 
cording to  the  best  interpreters ;  and  we  know  of  none 
better  than  those  whom  we  have  already  selected — Bishop 
Hopkins,  and  the  Westminster  Assembly. 

Bishop  Hopkins,  in  his  exposition,  (p.  68,)  says :  "  Theft 
is  an  unjust  taking  or  keeping  to  ourselves  what  is  lawfully 
another  man's.  He  is  a  thief  who  withholds  what  ought  to 
be  in  his  neighbor's  possession,  as  well  as  he  who  takes  from 
him  what  he  hath  formerly  possessed."  Now  slavery  takes 
from  a  man  what  is  justly  his  own,  as  his  body,  his  labor, 
liberty,  etc.  It  is  therefore  theft ;  and  as  the  slaveholder 
withholds  what  ought  to  be  in  his  neighbor's  possession,  he 
is  therefore,  in  the  eye  of  this  commandment,  a  thief. 

"The  highest  [kind  of  theft]  is  committed  against  God  by 
sacrilege.  Now  sacrilege  is  alienating  from  God  whatsoever 
he  has  appropriated  to  himself,  or  dedicated  to  his  honor 
and  service."  (P.  71.)  Now  slavery  has  alienated  from 
God  his  sovereign  control  over  his  creature;  therefore, 
slavery  is  sacrilege. 

"One  kind  of  theft  is  OPPRESSION,  and  unreasonaole 
exaction ;  and  this  especially  is  the  sin  of  superiors  toward 


340  THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

their  inferiors,  taking  advantage  either  of  their  weakness  or 
their  necessity,  to  impose  unequal  conditions  upon  them,  and 
such  as  they  can  not  bear  without  their  detriment  or  ruin, 
contrary  to  that  law  which  God  gave  his  people."  (Lev. 
xxv,  14  ;  Hopkins,  p.  72.)  The  application  of  the  above  to 
slavery  is  easy. 

(9.)  Indeed,  the  great  wickedness  of  holding  property  in 
man  is  so  manifest,  that  God  punished  either  the  stealing, 
or  trading,  or  holding  man  as  property,  with  a  rigor  beyond 
that  of  any  other  kind  of  theft.  Death  was  the  punishment 
for  stealing  a  man,  or  for  dealing  in  the  stolen  property, 
either  as  a  seller,  a  purchaser,  or  a  holder.  The  simple 
ground,  therefore,  on  which  slavery  is  to  be  placed,  is,  that 
it  is,  of  itself,  a  CRIME  of  the  greatest  enormity,  besides  the 
parent  of  innumerable  other  crimes.  It  is  an  outrage  on 
every  principle  of  humanity  and  justice,  and  a  flagrant 
violation  of  the  spirit  and  precepts  of  Christianity.  There- 
fore, nothing  remains  to  be  done  by  a  Christian  government, 
but  to  pronounce  its  immediate  and  utter  extinction,  accom- 
panying the  measure  with  wise  and  just  precautions. 

(10.)  Some  examples,  or  cases,  of  actual  theft  might  be 
given,  to  show  how  deeply  slavery  is  involved  in  theft  and 
robbery. 

We  quote  the  following  from  the  "Report  on  the  Free 
People  of  Color  of  Ohio,"  as  a  specimen  of  kidnapping, 
very  common  among  slaveholders.  It  is  copied  in  the  Anti- 
slavery  Record,  vol.  iii,  p.  76. 

"Mary  Brown,  another  colored  girl  who  was  kidnapped  in 
1830,  was  the  daughter  of  free  parents  in  Washington  City. 
She  lived  with  her  parents  till  the  death  of  her  mother;  she 
was  then  seized  and  sold.  The  following  are  the  facts  as 
slie  stated  them.  One  day  when  near  the  Potomac  bridge, 
Mr.  Humphreys,  the  sheriff,  overtook  her,  and  told  her  that 
she  must  go  with  him.  She  inquired  of  him,  what  for? 
He  made  no  reply,  but  told  her  to  come  along.  He  took 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLA  VERT.  341 

her  immediately  to  a  slave  auction.  Mary  told  Mr.  Hum- 
phreys that  she  was  free,  but  he  contradicted  her,  and  the 
sale  went  on.  The  auctioneer  soon  found  a  purchaser,  and 
struck  her  off  for  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Her 
master  was  a  Mississippi  trader,  and  she  was  immediately 
taken  to  the  jail.  After  a  few  hours,  Mary  was  handcuffed, 
chained  to  a  man  slave,  and  started  in  a  drove  of  about 
forty  for  New  Orleans.  Her  handcuffs  made  her  wrists 
swell  so  that  they  were  obliged  to  take  them  off  at  night, 
and  put  fetters  on  her  ankles.  In  the  morning  her  hand- 
cuffs were  again  put  on.  Thus  they  traveled  for  two  weeks, 
wading  rivers,  and  whipped  up  all  day,  and  beaten  at  night, 
if  they  did  not  get  their  distance.  Mary  says  that  she 
frequently  waded  rivers  in  her  chains,  with  water  up  to  her 
waist.  It  was  in  October,  and  the  weather  cold  and  frosty. 
After  traveling  thus  twelve  or  fifteen  days,  her  arms  and 
ankles  became  so  swollen  that  she  felt  that  she  could  go  no 
farther.  Blisters  would  form  on  her  feet  as  large  as  dollars, 
which  at  night  she  would  have  to  open,  while  all  day  the 
shackles  would  cut  into  her  lacerated  wrists.  They  had  no 
beds,  and  usually  slept  in  barns,  or  out  on  the  naked  ground ; 
was  in  such  misery  when  she  lay  down  tfiat  she  could  only 
lie  and  cry  all  night.  Still  they  drove  them  on  for  another 
week.  Her  spirits  became  so  depressed,  and  she  grieved  so 
much  about  leaving  her  friends,  that  she  could  not  eat,  and 
every  time  the  trader  caught  her  crying,  he  would  beat  her, 
accompanying  it  with  dreadful  curses.  The  trader  would 
whip  and  curse  any  of  them  whom  he  found  praying.  One 
evening  he  caught  one  of  the  men  at  prayer;  he  took  him, 
lashed  him  down  to  a  parcel  of  rails,  and  beat  him  dread- 
fully. He  told  Mary  that  if  he  caught  her  praying  he 
would  give  her  hell !  (Mary  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church  in  Washington.)  There  were  a  number  of  pious 
people  in  the  company,  and  at  night,  when  the  driver  found 
them  melancholy,  and  disposed  to  pray,  he  would  have  a 
29* 


342  THE  DECALOGUE  AGAINST  SLAVERY. 

fiddle  brought,  and  make  them  dance  in  their  chains.  It 
mattered  not  how  sad  or  weary  they  were,  he  would  whip 
them  till  they  would  do  it. 

"Mary  at  length  became  so  weak  that  she  could  travel  no 
further.  Her  feeble  frame  was  exhausted  and  sunk  beneath 
her  accumulated  sufferings.  She  was  seized  with  a  burning 
fever,  and  the  trader,  fearing  he  should  lose  her,  carried  her 
the  remainder  of  the  way  in  a  wagon. 

"  When  they  arrived  at  Natchez,  they  were  all  offered  for 
sale,  and  as  Mary  was  still  sick,  she  begged  that  she  might 
be  sold  to  a  kind  master..  She  would  sometimes  make  this 
request  in  presence  of  purchasers,  but  was  always  insulted 
for  it,  and  after  they  were  gone  the  trader  would  punish  her 
for  such  presumption.  On  one  occasion  he  tied  her  up  by 
her  hands,  so  that  she  could  only  touch  the  end  of  her  toes 
to  the  floor.  This  was  soon  after  breakfast ;  he  kept  her 
thus  suspended,  whipping  her  at  intervals  through  the  day  ; 
at  evening  he  took  her  down.  She  was  so  much  bruised, 
that  she  could  not  lie  down  for  more  than  a  week  afterward. 
He  often  beat  and  choked  her  for  another  purpose,  till  she 
was  obliged  to  yield  to  his  desires. 

"  She  was  at  length  sold  to  a  wealthy  man  of  Vicksburg, 
at  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  for  a  house  servant.  But 
he  had  another  object  in  view.  He  compelled  her  to  gratify 
his  licentious  passions,  and  had  children  by  her.  This  was 
the  occasion  of  so  much  difficulty  between  him  and  his 
wife,  that  he  has  now  sent  her  up  to  Cincinnati  to  be  free." 

9.  Slaveholding  is  contrary  to  the  ninth  commandment, 
which  says :  "  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy 
neighbor."     This  commandment  requires  the  maintaining  of 
truth  between  man  and  man.     But  slaveholding  prevents  the 
slaves  from  bearing  testimony  before  any  court  in  their  own 
defense,  or  in  the  cause  of  any  other  person,  in  clearing  the 
innocent  or  condemning  the  guilty. 

10.  Slavery  is  contrary  to  the  tenth  commandment,  which 


THE  DECALOGUE  AGAIKST  SLAVERY.         343 

says,  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet."  By  the  law  of  God,  every 
person,  under  God,  is  his  own  owner;  the  owner  of  his 
body,  limbs,  and  faculties;  the  owner  of  his  own  time, 
industry,  strength,  and  skill ;  the  owner  of  his  wife  and 
children  ;  the  owner  of  his  own  rights,  his  security,  his 
liberty,  his  property,  etc. ;  and  all  as  the  gift  of  God  to  him, 
and  to  none  other.  Now,  slavery  usurps  all  these — first 
covets  them,  and  then  seizes  them — and  it  is,  therefore,  a 
breach  of  the  tenth  commandment. 

11.  Slavery  is  against  all  just  laws,  human  and  divine. 

That  it  is  contrary  to  the  moral  law,  has  been  abundantly 
shown.  The  Gospel  contains  the  great  constitutional  prin- 
ciples of  right,  and  not  mere  statutory  enactments.  It 
proclaims  great  general  rules,  adapted  to  particular  cases, 
public  and  private.  The  mere  names  of  sins  may  not  be 
mentioned — for  the  names  of  many  are  recent — but  then  the 
principles,  or  elementary  character  of  these  sins,  are  very 
clearly  pointed  out.  A  great  many  vicious  practices  are  not 
condemned  by  name  in  Scripture,  such  as  counterfeiting, 
forgery,  arson,  theatres,  gambling,  piracy,  etc.  So  slavery 
in  modern  phrase  may  not  be  mentioned ;  yet  all  that  was 
pronounced  against  the  slavery  of  Joseph*,  the  Hebrews  in 
Egypt,  and  others  in  the  old  Testament,  is  confirmed  in  the 
new ;  and  principles  and  practices  inculcated  which  could 
never  originate  slavery,  and  which,  if  applied,  would  soon 
destroy  it  in  the  United  States  where  it  exists,  as  it  has 
done  already  in  other  states  and  other  countries. 


844  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SLAVERY  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

THE  principles,  claims,  and  legal  practice  of  slavery,  are 
antagonistic  to  the  principles,  dispositions,  claims,  and  prac- 
tices of  pure  Christianity.  In  the  support  of  this,  we  fur- 
nish the  following : 

1.  The  right,  such  as  the  master  claims  over  the  slave,  is 
never  acknowledged  in  the  word  of  God.     No  such  right  is 
recognized  by  the  Mosaic  institutions ,  so  that  the  master, 
without  the  consent  of  the  servant,  could  exact  services  from 
him,  prevent  him  from  marriage,  break  up  his  family  by 
sale,  etc. 

In  the  New  Testament  servants  are  exhorted  to  obey 
their  masters.  (Eph.  vi,  5-8;  Col.  Hi,  22-24  ;  1  Tim.  vi,  1 ; 
Tit.  ii,  9,  10 ;  1  Pet.  ii,  18-25.)  The  reasons  for  obedience 
are  such  as  these :  that  servants  may  please  God ;  that  they 
may  receive  from  him  the  reward  of  the  inheritance ;  that 
the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  may  not  be  blasphemed ; 
that  they  may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God,  their  Savior,  in 
all  things ;  that  they  may  imitate  the  patience  of  Christ,  etc. 
In  no  place  is  the  master's  right  of  property  in  them 
adduced  as  a  reason  for  the  obedience  of  a  slave.  Nor  is 
the  obedience  of  a  slave  enjoined  on  any  of  those  who  are 
called  servants.  Where  are  such  rights  recognized  as  to 
sell  a  fellow-man;  to  buy  him  from  another;  to  use  or  treat 
him  as  an  article  of  merchandise ;  to  rob  him  of  his  children, 
his  wife,  and  all  his  goods ;  to  prevent  him  from  worshiping 
God,  improving  his  mind  ?  These  assumed  rights  of  the 
slaveholders  are  sought  in  vain  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Old  Testament  to  the  conclusion  of  the  new. 

2.  The  absolute  power  of  the  master  is  utterly  repugnant 
to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.     That  one  man  should  be  the 


CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  345 

absolute  proprietor  of  his  fellow,  and  the  arbiter  of  his  des- 
tinies, not  only  to  shut  him  out  from  the  enjoyment  of  all 
the  blessings  of  Providence,  but  from  the  higher  blessings 
of  Christian  light  and  knowledge,  so  as  almost  to  destroy 
his  moral  responsibility — the  attribute  which  distinguishes 
man  from  the  brute,  while  it  allies  him  to  God — is  re- 
pugnant to  Christianity.  Is  it  possible  that  a  slave,  under 
the  despotic  authority  of  his  master,  should  be  a  morally- 
responsible  being,  in  the  same  sense  in  which  we  are 
responsible  beings  ?  Will  any  one  deny  that  it  is  repugnant 
to  Christianity,  that  one  human  being,  at  the  will  of  a 
fellow-man,  should  be  liable  to  have  all  the  finest  feelings  of 
his  heart  outraged,  without  the  probability  of  redress; 
that  he  should  be  liable  to  be  torn  and  forever  separated 
from  the  society  of  his  wife  and  children ;  that  he  should  be 
liable  to  have  his  body  lacerated  with  the  bloody  scourge, 
without  daring  to  utter  the  slightest  murmur  or  complaint, 
on  account  of  the  barbarous  infliction  ? 

It  makes  very  little  difference,  in  estimating  the  evil  of 
slavery,  that  there  may  be  many  slaveholders  who  are  mild 
and  merciful  masters,  who  'have  the  interests  of  the  slaves 
at  heart,  and  are  anxious  to  ameliorate  their  condition.  All 
this  can  not  rectify  the  incurable  evils  of  the  system ;  these 
are  beyond  the  reach  of  individual  benevolence.  But,  after 
ascribing  all  that  can  be  ascribed  to  humane,  pious,  and 
religious  individuals,  it  is  impossible  to  contemplate,  without 
indignation,  a  system  by  which  the  subjects  of  it  may  be 
remedilessly  wronged  in  every  way  in  which  it  is  possible 
for  one  man  to  wrong  his  fellow;  and  may  be  made  to 
sustain,  in  addition  to  all  the  numberless  vexations,  and 
nameless  aggravations  "which  the  details  of  every  day  may 
bring  with  it,  injuries  of  the  severest  and  most  lasting  kinds, 
without  the  hope  or  possibility  of  redress. 

3.  Slavery  and  the  light  diffused  by  Christianity  are 
directly  at  variance.  On  this  point  we  quote  the  admirable 


346  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

speech  of  Rev.  Richard  Watson,  delivered  April  23,  1831, 
.in  Exeter  Hall,  London,  as  follows : 

"It  has  been  said  that  Christian  instruction  should  be 
employed,  in  order  to  prepare  the  slaves  for  the  enjoyment  of 
freedom,  after  some  very  long  period  has  elapsed.  Now,  in. 
his  (Mr.  Watson's)  opinion,  it  was  imjwssible  to  spread 
Christianity  through  the  mass  of  the  slave  population  so  long 
as  it  continues  in  slavery.  Christianity  had  indeed  had  some 
noble  triumphs  in  the  West  Indies,  but  few,  comparatively, 
among  field  negroes;  and  this  was  the  great  objection  to 
the  system.  Legislators  might  give  them  Sabbaths,  but 
they  would  be  robbed  of  them  practically,  for  there  was  a 
power  in  every  planter  greater  than  the  power  of  the  British 
government  itself.  Christian  zeal  -might  multiply  mission- 
aries, and  yet  none  of  these  missionaries  could  enter  an 
estate  without  leave  from  the  owner  to  instruct  his  slaves ; 
the  consequence  was  that  a  variety  of  obstacles  were  con- 
tinually thrown  in  the  way  of  the  diffusion  of  Christianity 
throughout  the  population  at  large.  But  even  if  it  were 
possible  to  extend  Christianity  throughout  the  mass  of  the 
population,  those  persons  who  imagined  that  it  would  make 
the  slaves  quiet  and  content  with  slavery  were  greatly  mis- 
taken. [Hear,  hear.]  Christianity  would  make  better  ser- 
vants, but  worse  slaves.  It  creates  honesty,  industry,  and 
conscientiousness;  but  it  can  not  create  them  without  the 
love  of  freedom.  Slavery  was  felt  to  be  an  evil  most 
deeply  by  the  man  who  had  been  brought  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Christianity.  [Cheers.]  By  religion  the  mind 
becomes  enlightened,  the  sensibilities  acute  and  tender,  and 
the  social  relations  more  united  and  strengthened.  Would  a 
Christian  father  then  endure  it  as  well  as  a  Pagan  father, 
that  his  children  should  be  separated  from  him ;  that  his 
daughters,  whom  he  had  educated  in  virtue,  should  be 
subdued  for  pollution  by  the  influence  of  the  whip,  a  thing 
most  general  throughout  the  slave  colonies  ;  and  if  the  whip 


CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  34*7 

be  employed,  not  merely  to  cut  the  flesh,  but  to  cut 
deeper — to  separate  the  marriage  ties?  Was  it  possible 
that  Christianity  should  teach  a  man  to  tolerate  such  things 
as  these?  There  was  no  libel  so  gross,  as  that  Christianity 
could  be  made  the  instrument  of  defending  such  an  outrage. 
Our  religion  was  not  a  religion  to  teach  slaves  to  kiss  their 
chains,  but  a  religion  to  teach  freemen  how  to  use  their 
freedom."  (See  London  Antislavery  Reporter,  vol.  iv, 
p.  227.) 

4.  Nothing  can  be  more  directly  contrary  to  the  whole 
spirit  of  Christianity  than  the  inhuman  and  horrible  system 
of  slavery.     If  one  act  of  injustice,  willfully  committed,  is 
inconsistent  with  the  character  of  a  Christian,  what  must 
be  ten  thousand  such  acts  ?     If  one  injured  and  oppressed 
fellow-creature  cries  against  us  for  redress  to  the  Father  of 
mercies,  and  cries  not  in  vain,  what  will  not  the  cries  of 
thousands  effect  ?    If  an  occasional  deed  of  cruelty,  prompt- 
ed by  passion,  is  a  provocation,  in  the  eyes  of  God,  not  to 
be  overlooked,  what  must  a  cool,  deliberate  system  of  cru- 
elty be,  in  the  estimation  of  God  ?     If  crimes,  affecting  the 
health  or  property  of  another,  be  a  breach  of  the  Divine 
commandments,  what  must  be  the  injuries  affecting  the 
liberty,  the  whole  future  well-being,  the  family,  the  children 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  innocent  men,  women,  and 
children  consigned  to  hopeless  slavery  ? 

5.  The  dispositions  and  feelings  enjoined  on  Christians, 
and  exercised  by  them,  are  at  variance  with  slavery. 

Christians  were  commanded  thus :  "  Love  not  the  world, 
neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world.  If  any  man  love 
the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him,"  1  John  ii, 
15 ;  "Ye  adulterers  and  adulteresses,  know  ye  not  that  the 
friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God?  whosoever, 
therefore,  will  be  a  friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy  of 
God,"  James  iv,  4.  Hence,  those  who  had  possessions 
sold  them,  and  divided  their  proceeds,  "  as  every  man  had 


348  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

need,"  Acts  ii,  44,  45.  Those  who  had  practiced  unlawful 
acts  forsook  them,  at  a  great  pecuniary  sacrifice.  (Acts  xix, 
18—20.)  Hence,  this  benevolence  utterly  forbids  oppression, 
in  every  form,  and  of  course  the  oppressions  of  slavery. 

Besides,  there  always  was,  and  still  is,  the  leveling  spirit 
in  Christianity.  Christians  were  baptized  into  one,  homo- 
geneous body.  (1  Cor.  xii,  12,  13.)  Invidious  distinctions 
were  abolished  by  the  Gospel.  As  many  as  were  baptized 
into  Christ  became  the  Souxot — servants — not  slaves  of  God. 
There  was  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  bond  nor  free  among 
them.  These  and  other  distinctions  of  the  same  kind  were 
merged  into  the  comprehensive  relations  of  Christians. 
(Gal.  iii,  26-28.)  Hence,  it  is  beautifully  said  by  the  apos- 
tle, "Let  the  brother  of  low  degree  rejoice  in  that  he  is 
exalted,  but  the  rich  in  that  he  is  made  low,"  James  i,  9,  10. 

6.  Indeed,  the  very  principles  of  Christ's  kingdom  are  op- 
posed to  slavery.  (Matt,  xx,  25-28.)  The  principle  of  the 
kingdom  is  benevolence.  The  subjects  are  required  to  serve 
each  other  according  to  their  respective  abilities  and  neces- 
sities. All  despotic  domination  is  forbidden  in  Christianity. 
And  all  relations  not  consistent  with  this  Christian  rule  are 
forbidden:  "It  shall  not  be  so  among  you."  It  were  easy 
to  show  that  the  leading  principles  inculcated  in  the  above 
passage,  and  others  like  it,  are  in  direct  opposition  to  slavery. 

Y.  Hence,  the  brotherhood  of  Christianity  is  at  variance 
with  slavery.  All  Christians  were  to  be  regarded  as  breth- 
ren. "  One  is  your  master,  [^aSj/y^i^j — leader,]  and  all  ye 
are  brethren,"  Matt,  xxiii,  8.  This  is  the  uniform  lan- 
guage of  the  New  Testament.  There  is  nothing  to  hinder  its 
proper  use  when  the  rich  address  the  poor,  or  princes  their 
subjects,  or  preachers  their  people;  but  there  is  much  to 
prevent  its  use  when  applied  by  masters  to  their  slaves,  or 
of  slaves  to  their  masters.  To  apply  the  terms  brethren 
and  sisters  to  those  who  are  slaves  is  a  departure  from  all 
just  language. 


CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  349 

The  case  of  Demarara  will  exemplify  this.  It  was  found 
in  that  island,  that  the  progress  of  Christianity  was  likely 
to  become  dangerous  to  the  slave  system,  and  therefore,  it 
became  a  serious  object,  not  to  extinguish  slavery,  but  to 
expel  Christianity.  In  1808  the  Royal  Demarara  Gazette 
promulgated  this  doctrine :  "  He  that  chooses  to  make 
slaves  Christians,  let  him  give  them  then1  liberty.  Wh?t 
will  be  the  consequence,  when  to  that  class  of  men  is  given 
the  title  of  beloved  brethren,  which  actually  is  done! 
Assembling  negroes  in  places  of  public  worship  gives  a 
momentary  feeling  of  independence,  both  of  thinking  and 
acting;  and  by  frequent  meetings  of  this  kind  a  spirit  of 
remark  is  generated ;  neither  of  which  are  sensations  at  all 
proper  to  be  excited  in  the  minds  of  slaves."  Again,  hi 
1823,  the  same  paper  says,  "To  address  a  promiscuous 
audience  of  black  or  colonial  people,  bond  and  free,  by  the 
endearing  appellation  of  'my  brethren  and  sisters,'  is  what 
can  no  where  be  heard  but  hi  Providence  Chapel."  "  Can 
you  make  your  negroes  Christians,  and  use  the  words  'dear 
brother '  or  '  sister '  to  those  you  hold  in  bondage  ?  They 
would  conceive  themselves,  by  possibility,  put  on  a  level 
with  yourselves,  and  the  chains  of  slavery  would  be 
broken."  It  is  not  to  be  inferred,  however,  that  Demarara 
formally  abandoned  Christianity;  for  they  only  rejected 
that  kind  of  Christianity  which  came  in  opposition  to  sla- 
very. In  1696  Jamaica  passed  an  act  in  which  it  was  de- 
clared that  every  slave  should  be  educated  and  instructed 
in  the  Christian  religion.  In  1831  they  renewed  that  act. 
Yet  they  confessed  that,  for  over  a  hundred  years  together, 
nothing  efficient  was  done  to  promote  Christianity ;  for  they 
found  that  the  true  brotherhood  of  Christianity  would,  in 
the  end,  ruin  their  slavery. 

8.  Slavery  will  not  admit  of  prayer  for  its  support; 
therefore,  it  must  be  sinful. 

Prayer  is  offering  up  our  desires  to  God,  for  things  agree- 
30 


350  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

able  to  his  will,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  with  thankful  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  mercies.  The  things  asked  in  prayer 
should,  in  their  nature,  be  lawful.  But  there  is  no  precept 
in  the  moral  law  that  will  make  it  lawful  to  steal  the  prop- 
erty of  another,  or  rob  him  of  his  possessions.  But  the 
liberty,  the  labor,  the  wife,  the  children,  are  his  property. 
It  would  be  blasphemy  to  suppose  there  could  be  a  prom- 
ise in  God's  word  that  would  secure  his  blessing  to  acts  of 
theft  and  robbery.  There  is,  therefore,  not  a  promise  in 
the  Bible  for  a  slaveholder  to  plead  upon  for  strength  and 
grace  to  assist  him  in  the  practices  of  slaveholding,  such 
as  stealing  men,  women,  and  children — purchasing  stock 
negroes — selling  off  surplus  ones  to  the  drivers — distribu- 
ting families  by  will  among  heirs — whipping  the  disobedi- 
ent— transporting  by  private  sales  the  refractory — separa- 
ting the  married,  etc. 

It  would  be  difficult,  indeed,  to  find  many  examples  of 
persons  deliberately  praying  to  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  to 
assist  them  in  forcibly  restraining  their  neighbors  from 
enjoying  freedom,  and  to  enable  them  to  exact  their  labor 
without  wages.  Still,  many  cases  might  be  given  in  which 
religious  devotions  might  be  connected  with  the  crudest 
treatment  toward  slaves. 

But,  if  slaveholding  be  right,  and  therefore  a  duty,  the 
master  is  bound  to  pray  to  God  for  grace  and  wisdom  to 
enable  him  to  fulfill  his  duty,  according  to  the  true  nature 
and  tendency  of  the  practice. 

We  have,  in  our  reading,  selected  several  prayers,  de- 
voutly offered  up  to  God  in  behalf  of  the  slave,  some  of 
which  we  will  transcribe,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may 
be  disposed  to  pray  for  the  liberation  of  those  in  bondage. 
The  following  is  the  devout  prayer  of  the  Rev.  John  Wes- 
ley, found  in  the  conclusion  of  his  "  Thoughts  on  Slavery," 
which  were  published  in  1774: 

"0,  thou  God  of  love!  thou  who  art  loving  to  every 


CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  351 

man,  and  whose  mercies  are  over  all  thy  works !  thou  who 
art  the  Father  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  and  who  art  rich  in 
mercy  to  all!  thou  who  hast  made  of  one  blood  all  the 
nations  upon  earth !  have  compassion  upon  these  outcasts  of 
men,  who  are  trodden  down  as  dung  upon  the  earth !  Arise, 
and  help  those  that  have  no  helper!  whose  blood  is  spilt 
upon  the  ground  like  water !  Are  these,  also,  not  the  works 
of  thine  own  hands?  the  purchase  of  thy  Son's  blood? 
Stir  them  up  to  cry  to  thee,  in  the  land  of  their  captiv- 
ity ;  and  let  their  complaint  come  up  before  thee !  Let  it 
enter  into  thy  ears !  Make  even  those  that  lead  them  away 
captive  to  pity  them,  and  turn  their  captivity  as  the  rivers 
in  the  south !  0,  burst  thou  all  their  chains  in  sunder,  more 
especially  the  chains  of  their  sins!  Savior  of  all,  make 
them  free,  that  they  may  be  free  indeed ! 

The  servile  progeny  of  Ham 
Seize,  as  the  purchase  of  thy  blood ! 

Let  all  the  heathens  know  thy  name, 
From  idols  to  the  living  God ! 

The  dark  Americans  convert, 

And  shine  in  every  Pagan's  heart!" 

(Wesley's  Works,  vol.  vi,  p.  293.) 

The  Rev.  James  O'Kelley,  in  his  "Essay  on  Negro  Sla- 
very," published  in  Philadelphia,  1789,  devoutly  concludes 
his  Essay  as  follows : 

"  O,  dear  Jesus !  let  beams  dart  from  thy  benevolent  eyes 
into  the  hearts  of  our  countrymen,  and  soften  their  spirits ! 
Disperse,  dispel  the  thick,  gloomy  cloud  of  errors,  lest  all 
innocent  blood  of  those  people  fall  from  first  to  last  upon 
this  generation!  We  are  pained  at  small  matters.  We 
strain  at  gnats,  while  camels  choke  us  not." 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Wilson,  vicar  of  Islington,  in  a  sermon 
preached  October  31,  1830,  on  slavery,  concludes  with  the 
following  prayer: 

"And  do  thou  be  pleased,  0,  God  of  mercy!  to  look 
upon  us  as  a  nation !  Do  thou  move  the  hearts  of  the  people 


352  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

as  the  heart  of  one  man!  Do  thou  touch  us  with  com- 
punction! Do  thou  permit  us  to  repair  this  mighty  injus- 
tice, before  thou  smitest  us  for  our  refusal  to  do  so !  Do 
thou  permit  and  enable  us  to  break  the  chains  of  our  bond- 
age, ere  thou  burst  them  in  thine  indignation!  Do  thou 
assist  us  to  rise  abore  all  difficulties,  and  to  resist  all  temp- 
tations to  delay,  and  to  set  a  pattern  of  justice,  at  length, 
to  that  world  which  we  have  been  injuring  by  our  example 
of  selfishness  and  cruelty!  Do  thou  enable  us  to  make 
what  compensation  we  can  to  the  oppressed  negro  race,  for 
the  long  wrongs  we  have  done  them ! 

"  Suffer  us  not  to  go  on  in  our  provocations  of  thy  Divine 
majesty!  Give  us  not  over, .as  thou  justly  mightest,  to 
hardness  of  heart !  Let  us  not  refuse,  like  Pharaoh  of  old, 
to  let  the  people  go,  till  thy  vengeance  is  uplifted  against 
us — till  thou  sendest  confusion  into  our  councils,  a  blight 
upon  all  our  prosperity,  war  in  our  borders,  ruin  in  our 
national  concerns,  despair  and  death  in  our  land ! 

"  Let  us  yet — 0,  let  us,  by  thy  mercy,  be  still  the  people 
of  thy  pasture !  Let  truth  and  righteousness  abound 
among  us !  Let  us  set  the  captives  free,  and  nobly  trust 
to  thee,  in  following  the  path  of  duty.  Let  thy  Gospel 
yet  flourish  among  us !  Let  our  Church  enjoy  thy  benedic- 
tion! Let  our  nation  be  still  the  glory  of  the  reformed 
countries — the  herald  of  liberty,  and  peace,  and  social 
order,  and  religion  to  the  neighboring  states — the  messenger 
of  grace  to  the  Jew  and  Gentile — the  dispenser  of  happi- 
ness and  salvation  to  mankind !  And  then  to  thy  name,  thy 
mercy,  thy  long-suffering,  thy  power,  thy  grace,  shall  be 
the  praise  forever  and  ever,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord!" 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Ivimey,  in  a  lecture  on  slavery  delivered 
April  17,  1832,  concludes  with  the  following  prayer: 

"Merciful  Father  of  the  human  race!  thou  sittest  upon 
thy  throne,  judging  right!  thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  thy 


CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  353 

footsteps  are  not  known;  clouds  and  darkness  are  round 
about  thee;  judgment  and  justice  are  the  habitation  of  thy 
throne.  Thou  makest  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  thee, 
and  the  remainder  thereof  thou  wilt  restrain.  We  would 
adore  the  sovereignty  of  thy  inscrutable  conduct  in  regard 
to  the  misery  which  thou  hast  righteously  permitted  to 
exist,  not  doubting  but  that  the  Judge  of  the  whole  earth 
will  do  right ;  and  firmly  believing  that  thou  wilt  make  the 
most  afflictive  events  subserve  the  accomplishments  of  thy 
merciful  purposes,  in  the  universal  spread  of  thy  Gospel, 
and  the  ultimate  salvation  of  the  whole  body  of  thine  elect 
people.  Why  withdrawest  thou  thy  hand?  pluck  it  out 
of  thy  bosom.  Remember  the  covenant,  for  the  dark  places 
of  the  earth  are  full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty.  0,  let 
not  the  oppressed  return  ashamed !  Let  the  poor  and  needy 
praise  thy  name.  Arise,  O  Lord,  plead  thine  own  cause. 
Remember  how  the  foolish  man  reproveth  thee  daily.  O 
that  the  Father  of  the  universe  may,  in  compassion,  arise 
and  set  the  enslaved  negro  free !" 

We  sometimes  sing  a  hymn,  in  which  there  is  this  ex- 
pressive verse : 

"  Let  the  Indian — let  the  negro — 

Let  the  rude  barbarian  see 
That  divine  and  glorious  conquest, 
Once  obtained  on  Calvary; 

And  redemption, 
Freely  purchased,  win  the  day." 

As  an  example  of  the  opposition  between  slavery  and 
prayer,  we  may  quote  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brisbane, 
who  was  banished  South  Carolina  for  praying  for  liberty 
and  emancipating  his  slaves.  The  Charleston  Mercury  thus 
records  the  proceedings  of  a  meeting  held  at  Lawtonville, 
Feb.  8,  1848,  respecting  Mr.  Brisbane: 

"About  four  years  since  he  visited  this  section  of  coun- 
try, and,  after  his  return  north,  gave  a  garbled  and  false 
statement  of  his  sojourn  here,  endeavoring  to  make  capital 
30* 


354  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

for  himself  by  recounting  the  great  personal  risks  he  en- 
countered in  appearing  among  us ;  when,  unfortunately  for 
ourselves,  he  was  permitted  to  remain  and  depart  unmo- 
lested, after  having  settled  his  personal  and  private  business, 
having  made  no  public  demonstration  of  himself  or  his 
abolition  principles.  But  during  his  present  sojourn  he  has 
had  the  audacity  to  show  himself  in  one  of  our  pulpits, 
alluding  to  his  estrangement  from  his  native  place  not  being 
the  result  of  choice  but  of  necessity — a  necessity  brought 
about  by  the  force  of  conscience — there  insulting  us  with 
the  prayer  that  universal  liberty  might  soon  prevail. 

"  In  consideration  of  these  facts,  and  regarding  him  as  we 
do  to  be  an  enemy  to  his  country,  a  traitor  to  the  south, 
and  particularly  dangerous  to  this  section,  where  he  has 
the  sympathy  of  the  slaves,  having  liberated  apart  of  his 
own  here,  we  think  he  should  not  be  permitted  to  rest 
among  us.  Therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  wait  on  Rev.  Wm. 
H.  Brisbane,  M.  D.,  instanter,  and  warn  him  to  leave  the 
state  in  forty-eight  hours,  or  abide  the  consequences  from 
a  hitherto  patient  but  now  indignant  community. 

"Resolved,  That,  if  the  committee  find  Mr.  Brisbane  un- 
willing to  depart,  they  wait  upon  the  chairman  and  secre- 
tary, who  are  charged  with  disseminating  the  information 
so  as  to  call  the  people  together  at  an  early  day." 

9.  The  penalty  by  which  slavery  is  punished,  declares  it 
to  be  a  crime  of  the  first  magnitude,  equal  to  murder, 
striking  or  reviling  a  parent,  and  the  like.  "  He  that  curseth 
his  father  or  his  mother,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  He 
that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in 
his  hand,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  He  that  curseth 
his  father  or  his  mother  shall  surely  be  put  to  death,"  Ex. 
xxi,  15—17.  The  same  penalty  is  pronounced  in  Deut. 
xxiy,  7 :  "  If  a  man  be  found  stealing  any  of  his  brethren 


CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  355 

of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  maketh  merchandise  of  him, 
or  selleth  him,  then  that  thief  shall  die."  The  crime  here 
is,  stealing  a  man,  selling  Mm,  making  merchandise  of  him, 
or  holding  him,  which  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  hold- 
ing human  beings  in  slavery.  This  crime  is  equal  in  atroc- 
ity to  murder,  striking  or  reviling  a  parent,  or  the  like. 
Therefore,  slavery  is  a  sin  of  the  first  magnitude,  by  this 
decision  of  God. 

10.  In  short,  slavery  is  a  barrier  to  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion, education,  and  Christianity.  On  this  head  we  present 
the  following,  from  a  paper  read  by  Rev.  William  Bevan 
before  the  Antislavery  Convention  held  in  London  in  June, 
1840: 

"A  system  so  founded  in  injustice,  so  reared  in  irreligion, 
so  consummated  in  enormity,  opposes  a  fearful  barrier  to 
the  progress  of  civilization,  education,  and  Christianity.  In 
every  operation  on  the  character  of  the  enslaver  and  the 
enslaved,  it  accelerates  the  downward  movement  of  de- 
pravity and  misery.  The  Christian  Church  is  brought  to 
the  conviction,  that  only  in  the  diffusion  of  the  blessings  of 
education  and  religion,  will  civilization  advance,  and  these 
are  withheld.  To  retain  the  slave  as  a  chattel,  a  mere 
animated  machine,  the  intelligent  principle  within  him  must 
be  crippled  and  fettered.  It  can  never  be  destroyed. 
Hence  the  restrictions  on  means  of  instruction,  and  the 
penal  sanctions  by  which  they  are  enforced.  Above  all, 
the  spirit  of  Christianity  is  restrained. 

"Slavery  decrees  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  shall  not 
have  free  course.  The  two  can  not  walk  through  the  land 
together,  for  they  are  not  agreed.  If  the  Gospel  be 
triumphant,  slavery  must  fall.  That  slavery  may  continue 
in  despotic  might,  the  truth  of  God  must  be  bound.  They 
are  diametrically  and  unalterably  opposed.  Slavery  con- 
sorts with  the  demon  of  pollution ;  the  Gospel  breathes  the 


356  CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

spirit  of  purity.  Slavery  seeks  an  asylum  in  the  thick  dark- 
ness; the  Gospel  is  the  emanation  of  pure  and  heavenly 
light.  Slavery  denies  to  man  the  prerogatives  of  reason 
and  conscience;  the  Gospel  illuminates  his  mind,  purifies 
the  conscience  and  sets  it  free.  Slavery  debases  and  curses 
his  being;  the  Gospel  ennobles  and  blesses  him  with  a 
renewed  and  celestial  nature.  Slavery  plunges  him  into 
unmitigated  distress  and  despair;  the  Gospel  elevates  him 
to  joy  and  hope.  Slavery  draws  a  vail  over  the  relation 
of  life  and  immortality;  the  Gospel  confers  the  free  and 
glorious  title  to  the  life  everlasting.  The  outbreakings  of 
the  evil  genius  of  the  system  have  ever  been  characterized 
by  unrelenting  animosity  to  the  religion  of  Jesus.  It  has 
razed  the  Christian  sanctuary — it  has  committed  to  the 
flames  the  oracles  of  God — it  has  satiated  its  thirst  with 
the  blood  of  the  saints.  To  gather  the  broken  in  heart  to 
the  ministry  of  consolation,  is  rebellion  against  its  majesty ; 
to  announce  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are 
bound,  is  to  move  the  wretched  captives  to  sedition ;  to  read 
the  messages  of  sovereign  grace,  is  to  utter  treason  against 
its  state. 

"The  question  which  the  Church  of  Christ  has  to  deter- 
mine, is,  whether  the  Gospel  shall  be  hidden,  or  whether 
this  monster  tyrant  shall  be  overthrown.  To  its  determina- 
tion she  must  proce jd.  Considerations  of  policy  and  expe- 
diency must  be  banished  from  her  councils,  when  high  and 
sacred  duty  summons  her  to  action.  The  testimonies  of 
her  solemn  assemblies  must  go  forth,  the  remonstrance  of 
her  consecrated  ministers  must  be  heard  abroad.  Her 
silence  must  be  broken.  The  trumpet  of  battle  must  be 
sounded  against  the  abomination,  which  retains  the  uncivil- 
ized in  their  degradation  in  the  midst  of  the  enlightened 
and  the  free ;  which  endangers  the  peace,  the  stability,  the 
prosperity,  the  happiness  of  mighty  nations;  which  resists 


CONTRARY  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  357 

the  progress  of  the  heralds  of  salvation ;  which  is  twice 
accursed;  which  curseth,  in  time  and  in  eternity,  both  him 
that  enslaves  and  him  that  is  enslaved."  (Proceedings  of 
the  London  Antislavery- Convention  for  1841,  pp.  95-97.) 


END  OF  VOLUME  I. 


